Because last chapter was very lacking in the Zuko department, there's a lot more of him in this one to make up for it and it helps that this chapter is for Nightmares and Daydreams. On another note, thank you guys for getting this story to 200 reviews. Any feedback means the world to me and it's always nice to see you guys enjoying the story.
Rising Tension
With the eclipse quickly approaching and knowing that he had an impending decision to make, Zuko was certainly feeling it. He wasn't really sure what to expect when the eclipse arrived, since the city would be going on lockdown for the day in case the invasion force did still show up. Since Zuko hadn't heard from the assassin, he assumed that the Avatar was still out there and would most likely be leading the charge. The thought of that happening concerned Zuko, since then it would be revealed that the Avatar wasn't dead and Zuko would most likely get the blame for that.
But that was the least of Zuko's worries at the moment, since the most consistent worry on his mind was Akane. Since Azula had told him of her apparent death, Zuko had barely been able to function. He had no idea what he was supposed to do with this information, whether it be believe it or not. In the back of his mind, Zuko's mantra constantly repeated itself which made Zuko more inclined to believe the latter.
Azula always lies.
That was something that Zuko had drilled into himself since he was a child. Azula had always lied. She'd lied about father wanting him to return home and she'd lied about him killing the Avatar and Akane. So who's to say that she wasn't lying about this? But Azula had to be telling the truth. There had been proof, and Zuko knew that if he was to doubt Azula's words that he would have to doubt everything, including the choice that he had made back in Ba Sing Se. And that wasn't something Zuko was sure he could do.
Today Zuko had decided to go and speak to Mai properly for the first time since returning from Ember Island. They had technically broken up, since neither of them had made any attempts at reconciling or resuming their relationship. But today Zuko wanted to clear the air with Mai, since he had felt guilty about how things ended with her. He certainly hadn't treated her the best during their short relationship and there was a time when he had valued her as a friend and he didn't want her hating him. So, Zuko had gotten up and was preparing himself to head to her house as the servants fussed over him.
"Fresh fruit, Prince Zuko?" one of the servants offered, only for Zuko to put his hand out as he shook his head respectfully.
"May I wash your feet, sir?" another servant asked, which earned the same response from Zuko.
"Head massage?" again, Zuko shook his head.
"Hot towel?" for a moment, Zuko was about to refuse the offer before he ended up taking one and wiping his forehead before walking out of the room.
Sometimes Zuko found the servants constant waiting on him annoying, since it meant he could hardly ever find some time to himself without constantly being checked up on. Zuko often longed for the days when he could just retreat back to his room on his old ship. That would be the only time Zuko missed the days of his banishment, since he certainly didn't missed being an outcast from his own country.
Only now Zuko certainly wasn't an outcast in his country. He even had people fawning over him and hailing him a hero, even though he certainly didn't feel like a hero or that he deserved their admiration. As Zuko walked outside the palace gates, there were dozens of Fire Nation citizens waiting for him. One woman became overly excited upon seeing him before she was taken away by the palace guards.
"Prince Zuko, is something wrong? You didn't take the palanquin," one of the servants said.
"I'm just going to Mai's house. It's not far," Zuko replied.
"It's not a prince's place to walk anywhere, sir," the servant argued.
After a bit of reluctance, Zuko walked over and got into the palanquin. The servants picked it tup and walked over to Mai's house that was barely across the street from the palace. Out of the corner of his eyes, Zuko saw Mai standing out at the front of the house. Even from where he was Zuko could see the glare on her face, and he couldn't blame her for looking at him like that.
"What do you want?" Mai demanded as Zuko approached her.
"I just want to talk, Mai," Zuko reassured her as he noticed a piece of metal sticking out from her robes. "You can put down the knives, too. I'll try not to give you a reason to use them on me."
"So, why are you here?" Mai crossed her arms.
Zuko sighed, "Well, you know… I j-just wanted to talk to you about… things. And to, you know, say… sorry for how I acted. So, I'm sorry."
"What made you suddenly want to apologise?" Mai wondered.
Zuko cleared his throat as he spoke with more clarity, "I've had some time to think since coming back from Ember Island and I've realised that I didn't exactly treat you like I should have when we were dating. You deserve better than that – better than me."
"I'll say," Mai snorted. "You barely gave me any attention unless I gave it to you. Everything had to be done on my end and it was almost like you didn't even want our relationship, which I've also realised was exactly the case."
"Well, we were friends once, Mai. If you could just give me the chance to make it up to you, I will," Zuko said.
"Fine, you can come inside," Mai conceded, waving for Zuko to follow her.
Since Mai hadn't thrown any of her knives at him, Zuko would say that he was off to a good start. Now he wasn't really sure where things were going to go from here, but he was hoping to leave with Mai being slightly less pissed at him.
"You should know that I don't want to get back together with you, Zuko," Mai stated as she lead him inside.
"Why the sudden change of mind?" Zuko asked before rephrasing his words. "I just mean that you were all keen to get together with me when we got back, so why not want it now?"
"Being with you wasn't really what I thought it would be and part of the reason why I only wanted to get together with you was because Azula wanted me to," Mai replied.
"Why did she want that?" Zuko queried.
Mai shrugged, "She just said that it's because of our 'history' together and that we would've made such a great couple. I doubt that's why she really wanted it, though."
"And I guess I gave you plenty of reasons to not want to be with me," Zuko admitted.
"You got that right," Mai muttered.
"If there's anything I can do to make it up to you for how much of a jerk I was, let me know," Zuko said.
"There's nothing you need to do, Zuko. Don't feel like you have to make nice with me because Azula wants you to," Mai remarked.
"I'm not here because Azula wants me here, I'm here because I want to make amends for how I treated you," Zuko replied. "Tell me, if you could have anything you want right now, what would it be?"
Mai thought for a moment, "Hm… A big fancy fruit tart, with rose petals on top."
"You know, being a prince and all, I might just be able to make that happen," Zuko said.
Mai chuckled, "That would be impressive."
"Do you think you could find a fresh fruit tart for the lady, with rose petals on top?" Zuko asked the servants nearby.
"Excellent choice, sir," one of the servants bowed before leaving with the others.
"I guess there's some nice perks that come with being royalty," Mai commented dryly. "Though there's annoying stuff, too. Like that all-day war meeting coming up."
"War meeting?" Zuko repeated as he sat up. "What are you talking about?"
"Azula mentioned something. I-I assumed you were going, too," Mai replied.
"I guess I wasn't invited," Zuko muttered.
To say that Zuko wasn't bitter about not being invited would be an obvious lie. Zuko didn't really care about a stupid war meeting, since he had a fair idea of what goes on in there. What upset him the most was the fact that he hadn't even been invited and based on what Mai had said, Azula had been. Why was she more important than him for that?
Scowling, Zuko got up from his seat and walked over to the window of Mai's room as he looked out towards the palace. Just when Zuko thought things were going well for him and he was actually valued, this happens. If Zuko was really valued, then he would've known about the war meeting without needing Mai to tell him.
"Zuko, it's just a dumb meeting. Who cares?" Mai said as she approached him.
"I don't," Zuko muttered.
"Well, good. You shouldn't. I mean, why would you even want to go? Just think about how things went the last war meeting you went to," Mai reasoned.
Zuko sighed, "I know."
"So, what are you going to do?" Mai asked.
Zuko turned towards her, "I think I'm going to go. It was nice seeing you again, Mai. And thanks for not trying to cut my head off with your knives."
"Just know that if you want to, well… talk, you can come to me if you want. Like you said, we're, you know, friends," Mai said awkwardly.
"Thanks, Mai. I'll be going now," Zuko said.
Even though Zuko left Mai's house feeling more dejected than he was before, there was still a feeling of accomplishment knowing that he'd managed to smooth things over with Mai. But there was still that bitterness because he hadn't been invited to the meeting and even though Zuko knew he shouldn't care about it, he still did.
~*•°•*~
Four days before the invasion was scheduled to take place, they'd arrived at the rendezvous point that was located near the Black Cliffs. Since arriving, Aang's nerves had gotten the better of him and he was an anxiety-ridden mess. Every night, he'd been suffering nightmares about his looming confrontation with Ozai and despite their best attempts to help him, nothing was working.
In an attempt to make Aang feel better, they all tried coming up with ways to ease his nerves. Katara had taken him to do yoga, Akane had tried using the hot springs to relax him, Toph had tried doing some kind of back massage and Sokka had tried using his Wang Fire persona complete with a beard to talk to Aang. None of their attempts had worked, and Aang seemed to be getting worse by the second due to his lack of sleep.
As if she didn't have anything more to worry about, Akane found herself worrying about things that didn't even make sense to her. Some of which did, like her own nightmares after being left with Hama and the fact that her kidney's had been feeling worse since that encounter. Then there were small things, like insignificant feelings that Akane didn't even know why she was feeling. These feelings weren't just emotional feelings, but feelings in relation to a certain Water Tribe warrior.
From the moment Akane had joined their group, Sokka had been the one person she could relate to the most. She could talk to him about almost anything, and she valued that with anyone. There were obviously some things that Akane couldn't talk to him about, but for the most part she knew she could talk to him about anything. There was also something that Akane could see in Sokka, something that pulled her towards him and made her want to be with him but she didn't know what or why and that frustrated her. Sokka seemed to know that she was going through something as he approached her with his Wang Fire costume still on. Just the sight of that wacky beard was enough to make Akane laugh.
"What brings you out here all by yourself?" Sokka asked as he sat down next to her.
"Just thinking…" Akane trailed off.
"I know we haven't really talked much since the whole Hama thing, and I was just wondering if you were okay after you know, being bloddbended," Sokka said.
Damn his thoughtfulness.
"I'm okay. I guess the whole thing has left me pretty shaken and I have been struggling with nightmares, but they're not as bad as Aang's," Akane replied.
"Well, if you ever wanna talk about them, you can talk to me," Sokka offered.
"I'll keep that in mind," Akane smiled weakly.
"Listen, can I talk to you about something?" Sokka asked.
Akane shrugged, "I guess."
"When Hama was being taken away by the prisoners, she said something to you. She said that she could feel death inside of you and I think you knew what she meant. Could you tell me what she meant and what you understood?" Sokka queried.
Akane sighed, "Well, what she said was pretty straightforward. Death is coming for me, and I know that. That's what I understood. As for why, I don't know if I can tell you that."
"Come on, Akane. You can trust me," Sokka urged.
"I know that, but this isn't exactly something that I like talking about," Akane said before sucking in a deep breath. "I'm dying."
"What?" Sokka exclaimed disbelievingly. "How could you be dying? You can't be dying."
"I am," Akane confirmed. "I wish I wasn't, but I am."
"That's… that's just, wow. I don't know what to say," Sokka murmured.
"You don't have to say anything. I've known about this for months now. I've dealt with it and accepted it as my fate," Akane said before she told Sokka what had happened to her and why she was like this.
"That's just horrible," Sokka shook his head once she finished telling him. "For someone to do that without even thinking about you is just wrong."
"It's okay. I've had months to come to terms with it," Akane reassured him.
"But that still doesn't make it okay!" Sokka exclaimed. "Just because you've given up on yourself doesn't mean that things should be this way. You don't deserve to die. You're too good of a person to deserve to die."
"That's sweet and all, but I'm fine with it. You don't need to go on any revenge trip for me because I know that there's nothing I can do," Akane reasoned.
"But you said that you can still be saved," Sokka argued.
"Yeah, with only a small chance of it actually happening," Akane snorted.
"Then I'll make it happen. I'll do my best to find someone to save you because you deserve to live. You haven't been able to live the life that you've wanted to thanks to the jerkbender and I'm going to make sure you get that chance," Sokka insisted.
"You don't have to do that for me. I'm not worth your time, Sokka. You shouldn't be wasting your time on me," Akane argued.
"How could you say that? It's like you're giving up and that you believing you don't deserve to live. Everyone deserves to live and you're worth the effort because of everything that you've done for us," Sokka said as he squeezed her hands comfortingly.
In that moment, Akane suddenly got the overwhelming urge to just kiss him. She didn't know or understand why, and that freaked her out. When the urge hit her, Akane suddenly found herself remembering what had happened when she and Zuko had kissed and the fallout that had happened because of it. That wasn't something that Akane was going to let happen now, not when there were more important things to worry about.
So Akane did what she always did in confronting situations, she got up and ran.
~*•°•*~
Wanting to get to the bottom of this war meeting, Zuko went to go and see Azula since she clearly knew what he didn't. When he found her in the royal spa, she was getting her hair done as the servants waited on her. But Zuko wasn't going to wait for her. He was going to cut right to the chase.
"Hello, Zuzu," Azula acknowledged him as he walked in. "If you've come for a royal hair-combing, I'm afraid you'll have to wait."
"So I guess there's a big war meeting coming up, huh? And apparently I'm not welcome there," Zuko said.
"What do you mean? Of course you're welcome there!" Azula scoffed.
"Oh, yeah!? I guess that's why no one bothered to tell me about it!" Zuko snapped.
"Oh, Zuko. Don't be so dramatic," Azula drawled. "I'm certain dad wants you there. You probably just weren't invited because it's so obvious you're supposed to be there."
Zuko narrowed his eyes, "Well, were you invited?"
"Of course! I'm the princess," Azula replied.
"And I'm the prince!" Zuko exclaimed.
"Exactly, so stop acting like a paranoid child!" Azula scolded him with a raised finger. "Just go to the meeting."
"Forget it! I'm not going!" Zuko barked before he turned around and walked away.
None of what Azula had said made sense to Zuko. Then again, not much of what his sister said ever made sense to him. Fed up with whatever was going on, Zuko headed back to his room, not before he took a detour along the way and found himself in front of a familiar room.
It was Akane's room.
Standing there, Zuko was suddenly overwhelmingly reminded about the fact that Azula had said that Akane was dead. It had to be true, didn't it? Azula couldn't be lying. He had to believe her, even if he didn't want to. But just knowing that Akane had died hating him left Zuko with an unwelcomed feeling. He didn't like the fact that her last memories of him would've been associated with hate and anger, not that he could blame her. If Zuko was her, he'd hate him too.
As Zuko looked around her room, he couldn't help but think back on the time where things hadn't been so… messy between them, back in the good old days before he was banished and when his mother was still around. Those were Zuko's best memories, and he longed for those moments despite knowing that he would most likely never get them again. Just like Zuko had said to Iroh the first time he had visited him, being back in the Fire Nation as a welcomed hero was not at all how he thought it would be.
But this was Zuko's life now, it was what he had wanted for the past three years. He should be grateful to be home again, even if that's hardly what he felt half the time. It almost felt like he didn't belong sometimes, and Zuko hated feeling like that. He wished that he could just sit here and do what was expected of him to be the perfect prince, but deep down, Zuko knew that that wasn't what he wanted. He wasn't even sure if he knew what he wanted anymore.
~*•°•*~
After running away from Sokka, Akane remained by herself as she struggled to decide what she wanted to do. She knew that it was wrong for her to want to be like that with him. She barely even knew him, yet she was going off wondering what it would be like to be with Sokka. He just had everything that Akane wanted which made it impossible for her to not like him. This would be so much easier if he was more of a jerk. He left her feeling just like Zuko did, and she hated him for that but couldn't bring herself to hate him like that.
The eclipse would be tomorrow, and the importance of that date terrified Akane. There was more writing on it for her than the others, since she would be a Fire Nation citizen fighting against her own country. But there was a little more to it than that. Akane just wanted this all to be done and over with, but she knew that it wouldn't be that easy. Nothing was ever that easy for her, and she was used to that by now.
Unfortunately for Akane, it wasn't long before her hiding place had been discovered as she heard someone approaching her from behind. She already knew that it was going to be Sokka, so she braced herself for what was to come.
"Hey, you missed Aang having a freak out before," Sokka said as he sat next to her.
"I was busy freaking out on my own," Akane muttered, which was the truth. She'd been busy freaking out over these feelings that she didn't even understand.
"Was that why you, you know, ran away from me?" Sokka asked.
"Kind of," Akane murmured before sighing when she saw the look on Sokka's face. "Please don't ask me why."
"I'm not going to ask you why…" Sokka trailed off. "So would you tell me what made you run away from me like a crazy woman?"
Akane glared at him, "Don't twist my words."
"Hey, I didn't ask why," Sokka remarked.
"I'm sorry," Akane sighed. "I'm just feeling… things that are confusing me and I don't know how to deal with them."
"And by feelings you mean…" Sokka trailed off.
"Emotional things," Akane mumbled, not really wanting to tell Sokka that she was feeling uncertain things towards him.
"I'm not usually the best person to talk about these things with, but I do know that you know, talking about things helps," Sokka said.
"Under any other circumstances, I would talk about what I'm feeling but I can't really talk about that with you," Akane snapped.
Sokka narrowed his eyes, "Why? Am I that bad?"
"No, you're not bad. Quite the opposite, in fact. You're great, you really are. I just can't talk about it with you because these feelings are about you," Akane confessed, blushing as she did so.
"Oh," Sokka murmured. "And by feelings, do you mean those kind of mushy feelings?"
"I don't know and it frustrates me," Akane grumbled.
Silence fell over the two teenagers as they sat there in silence, neither of them sure of how they were supposed to continue this conversation. Akane didn't want to say anything that she might regret whereas Sokka was just feeling uncomfortable about this whole situation. He wasn't usually the smartest guy when it came to feelings, but he wasn't stupid either and Sokka was starting to think that Akane was feeling something towards him, whether it be romantic or something else and that was what made him uncomfortable.
"Maybe this is the kind of thing you should talk about with Katara," Sokka muttered as he got up.
On an act of complete unconsciousness, Akane pulled him back down and kissed him. She didn't know why she did it, but all Akane could figure out was that she was acting on her urge from before. She couldn't help but compare this kiss to the other ones that she'd had in the past. This kiss wasn't like the kisses that she'd had with Jet and Zuko, mostly because she was the one who had instigated it.
There were also separate reasons as to why this kiss was different to the ones that she'd had in the past. When Akane had been kissed by Jet, there had been this fiery passion but it wasn't anything that she'd wanted. As for her kiss with Zuko, it was almost incomparable. That kiss had left her feeling all tingly and on cloud nine, but also confused as to why he had done it. Sokka's kiss was just… different, and she couldn't figure out why. Maybe it was because she had been the one to kiss him and he hadn't really made any move to kiss her back. Either way, it confused her and that left her even more frustrated.
"Sorry," Akane apologised awkwardly when she pulled away from him.
"It's cool," Sokka murmured as he shuffled away from her. "We're, uh, gonna be making a bed for Aang out of sheep if you wanna like, help us."
Another silence fell over the two teenagers, this one more awkward than the last. Once Akane had actually realised what she'd done, she instantly regretted it because she had just potentially messed things up like she always did. Before she could even say anything else to Sokka, she realised that he was gone.
Why did Akane always do this to herself? It was almost as if she liked making herself suffer, and she hated it. With a loud groan, Akane flung herself back onto the grass and closed her eyes, wanting more than anything for something to give her a sign on what the hell she was supposed to do now.
~*•°•*~
Instead of going to the war meeting, Zuko had ended up going to Mai's house. He hadn't wanted to bother going to that stupid war meeting if he hadn't been invited, and Mai had been surprisingly welcoming to him. They'd sat there and talked about things, like their relationship and where they stood with each other now. They had both come to the agreement to stay friends, and Zuko actually found himself enjoying Mai's company as a friend more than when they had been a couple. Zuko could tell that there was something that Mai wanted to talk to him about, but she hadn't said anything.
Just when it seemed like she was about to say something, they had been interrupted by one of the servants. To Zuko's complete and utter amazement, his father actually wanted him at the meeting and did not want to start unless he was there. He supposed that this was what it felt like to be wanted, which was something that Zuko had always yearned for himself. Only the feeling of being wanted by his father hadn't filled Zuko with as much happiness like he thought it would. He'd been feeling indifferent towards his father ever since he'd learned about his secrets about Akane.
Nevertheless, Zuko had gone to the meeting since he knew that not going would only lead to more problems that he didn't want to deal with. When Zuko walked through the curtains, he could feel everyone looking at him. He passed by General Bujing, the same man whose plan that he had spoken out against which had resulted in his banishment. Zuko wasn't going to be making that mistake again.
"Welcome, Prince Zuko. We waited for you," Ozai greeted his son, gesturing for him to sit at his right side. Zuko walked up to his father and bowed respectfully before sitting down.
It was almost hard for him to believe that his father had actually waited for him and wanted him at his right side. This was almost too good to be true for Zuko and a few years ago, this was exactly what he had wanted. But Zuko didn't feel any joy or accomplishment as he sat down next to his father. He just felt like he was doing what he was supposed to do.
"General Shinu, your report," Ozai gestured for the man to begin.
"Thank you, sir," General Shinu replied as he stood up and walked to the opposite side of Ozai across the table. "Ba Sing Se is still under our control. However, earthbender rebellions have prevented us from achieving total victory in the Earth Kingdom."
Ozai's brows tightened at this, "What is your recommendation?"
"Our army is spread too thin, but once the eclipse is over and the invasion defeated, we should transfer more domestic forces into the Earth Kingdom," Shinu suggested.
"Hmm. Prince Zuko, you've been among the Earth Kingdom commoners. Do you think that adding more troops will stop these rebellions?" Ozai addressed his son.
This was almost unbelievable to Zuko. His father was actually asking him for his opinion like he valued it. Zuko couldn't even remember the last time his father had asked for his opinion. Speaking of which, Zuko didn't agree with Shinu's plan and his father didn't seem to either based on the disapproving tone in his voice. Zuko had to be very careful about what he said next.
"The people of the Earth Kingdom are proud and strong. They can endure anything, as long as they have hope," Zuko chose his words carefully.
"Yes, you're right," Ozai agreed, but in an entirely different way. "We need to destroy their hope."
"Well, that's not exactly what I-" Zuko tried voicing his disapproval, only to be cut off.
"I think you should take their precious hope and the rest of their land and burn it all to the ground," Azula interjected.
"Yes… Yes you're right, Azula," Ozai agreed, causing Azula to lift her face up into a smirk as Ozai walked across the world map. "Sozin's Comet is almost upon us, and on that day, it will endow us with the strength and power of a hundred suns. No bender will stand a chance against us."
"What are you suggesting, sir?" Shinu asked.
"When the comet last came, my grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin, used it to wipe out the Air Nomad. Now, I will use it's power to end the Earth Kingdom… permanently!" Ozai proclaimed, astonishing Zuko. "From our airships, we will rain fire over their lands, a fire that will destroy everything; and out of the ashes, a new world will be born in which all the lands are Fire Nation and I am the supreme ruler of everything!"
Everyone else in the room seemed to think that this was a brilliant plan as the room erupted in applause. Zuko on the other hand, was horrified of his fathers plan. Zuko didn't want to think that his father was capable of such evil despite everything else that he had done, but this plan topped the list. This plan was horrifying, and Zuko wished that he'd had the courage to speak out against it, but he remained in his seat for the rest of the meeting, barely paying attention to what else was said.
All Zuko could think about was his fathers plan and what it would mean for him. It was selfish, really, because Zuko wouldn't be the one whose land was burned down. But Zuko couldn't let that happen in good conscience. It was just so… wrong. Zuko suddenly found himself remembering the people that he'd encountered in the Earth Kingdom. From Song and her mother, to Pao and every other random person he'd crossed paths with. Even Jet flashed through his mind. It wasn't right. It wasn't right for them. And it certainly wasn't right for him to just stand by and let that happen.
When that realisation hit Zuko, he suddenly had the overwhelming urge to throw up. Because the truth that he had been trying to deny the moment he arrived back in the Fire Nation had hit him like a tonne of bricks. He'd been trying to rationalise his decision, but deep down, Zuko had always known the truth.
He'd always known that he'd made the biggest mistake in his life by betraying Akane and his uncle. There was no point in denying it anymore. He'd messed up. He'd messed up big time and it was going to take a miracle to fix this mess that he had created. It had all been for nothing, just like Zuko had feared.
And that was the hardest realisation of them all.
Without Zuko even noticing, the meeting had ended. He remained still on his seat as the other generals and war ministers left until his father addressed him.
"You did well today, Prince Zuko," Ozai congratulated him. "I am proud of the man that you are becoming. You truly do have the potential to be a strong leader one day."
If those words had been said to him years ago, or even months ago, Zuko would've been ecstatic and jumping for joy, only now he wasn't. He didn't feel any satisfaction from Ozai singing his praise, just like he hadn't felt anything when his father had wanted him here in the first place.
Hanging his head down, Zuko walked out of the war room with a strange feeling of emptiness inside of him. This day had certainly not gone how he had expected it to go, and he wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about that. To Zuko's surprise, Mai was waiting for him outside the room and she joined him as he walked towards his father's portrait.
"So, how'd it go?" Mai asked.
"When I got to the meeting, everyone welcomed me. My father had saved me a seat. He wanted me next to him. I was literally at his right hand," Zuko replied, with hardly any emotion in his voice.
"Zuko, that's wonderful," Mai placed her hands on his arm and shoulder. "You must be happy."
Strangely enough, Zuko felt anything but happiness. But he knew why. His fathers horrifying plan had left him feeling sick to his stomach so it was hard to feel anything else right now. Zuko stopped in front of his fathers portrait, looking up at the man who he had desperately tried to please for years now. Only now all of that effort seemed to be for nothing.
"During the meeting I was the perfect prince. The son my father wanted," Zuko said as he closed his eyes. "But I wasn't me."
"What do you mean?" Mai asked after a moment of silence.
Zuko sighed, "None of this feels right anymore. I'm not sure of anything anymore, Mai. You said it yourself, I should be happy. Only happiness is the furthest thing that I feel right now. I feel like the biggest jerk on the planet for what I've done."
"This is about Akane, isn't it? Just like it's always been," Mai muttered.
"What are you talking about?" Zuko asked.
Mai rolled her eyes, "Come on, Zuko. Don't pretend to act ignorant. I know why our relationship never could've worked out. It was because the whole time you were with me, you were thinking about her. And deep down, I knew that I could never make you feel the way that she does. Even after you betrayed her and considering the fact that she probably hates you for it, you still want her."
"I really don't have the time for this, Mai," Zuko snapped. "I have more important things to worry about than your petty jealousy."
"It's not jealousy, Zuko. And sooner or later you're going to realise that too. You're going to realise that everything you've done is because of her and there's nothing you can do to change that," Mai called out to him as he walked away.
As much as Zuko didn't want to admit it, he had to admit that there was some truth in Mai's words. Everything that he had done was because of Akane for one reason or another. The only reason why he had made the choice to stand by Azula was because of Akane's actions. Zuko cared about her so much because she was Akane and that would never change, not even now when he was supposed to hate her. She always got in the way, but that was only because Zuko had let her. If he really didn't care about her, she wouldn't even factor into the decisions that he makes.
It would always be Akane.
Whether Zuko wanted to admit it or not, she would always play a factor into every decision that he made. As much as Zuko would like to think that he's about to make the second most life changing decision on his own, he would be lying if it wasn't partly because of Akane. The eclipse was coming tomorrow and regardless of what happened, it was going to lead to a significant change in Zuko's life.
It looks like things are changing for both Zuko and Akane in ways that they had never expected. I'm sure you can all imagine what that change will lead to in the coming chapters. Feelings are definitely coming into play for certain actions and decisions in this chapter. The reasons for certain things happening may seem obvious, but it would take a real keen reader to read between the lines and see that there's a bigger picture amongst all the teenage drama. Just wait until you guys see what I have install for the next chapter… On a complete unrelated note to the chapter, I've realised that Avatar has basically used the idea of Horcruxes from Harry Potter when the Moon Spirit gave part of it's life to Yue so it couldn't actually be killed since it still existed in her, basically like how Voldemort couldn't be killed since his life still existed in his Horcruxes. I absolutely love that comparison, and if you guys love Harry Potter too, then you should check out my Harry Potter fanfic too *wink, wink* *nudge, nudge*.
SPECIAL MENTIONS
Marsmiko: Anything else I could say in response to your review would kind of give away the ending that I have planned, so I'll just sit back and let you guys keep theorising.
Kisstherainandthesun: Since you love Akane and Sokka's relationship in this, tell me what you thought about this… development for them in here. There's definitely a reason why I wanted Akane and Sokka to become close and have given them these little moments, but those reasons will eventually be revealed.
Constipated Genius: If the Kemurikage was something that they'd always thought of, they could've easily mentioned it when the Gaang were in Wan Shi Tong's library or somewhere else in the Fire Nation. But yeah, I think that it's something they did just make up for the sake of the comics. Akane's illness is definitely not forgotten, just something I've removed the focus on for now in light of recent issues that have come to surface. Your comment on Hama's threat kind of inspired Akane telling Sokka about it as well, since I wanted some kind of emotional conversation between them before the kiss. Fate certainly hasn't been kind to Akane, but things will eventually start to work out for her just like things did for Zuko. It's just gonna be a longer road for her than it was for him. And yeah, I know that my grammar in the story overall isn't the picture perfect and that's partly my fault since I tend to ignore proof-reading and getting beta probably wouldn't work for me considering I write each chapter the day before I post it and only finish writing it on the day I do post.
Mogor: It's always nice to know that my writing can bring out these passionate feelings from people, lol. This chapter has certainly lead to an interesting development between Akane and Sokka, but there's a little more to it than that.
Victoria White: My goal was certainly reached before this chapter and it's just astounded me at the response that this story has received. It's easily the most popular out of my stories and I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't my favourite too. More of Sokka's thoughts on Akane and their little development will be revealed in a few chapters since right now, they've got something more important to worry about.
Random Passer: The best way to read any story is to binge read it, but then it sucks once you're up to date and you now have to wait for each update. But my updates are fairly consistent so you don't have to wait forever with this story. Thanks for the review and I'm glad you like the story so far.
Guest: First off, thanks for being my 200th review :). Part of the reason why I added Akane's illness into the story was to add in a little bit more drama other than her and Zuko's romance. Trust me when I say that Zuko is going to have his work cut out for him when he and Akane come face to face again. It's certainly going to take more than a life-changing field trip for her to forgive him and it'll be dramatic like everything else is with the story has been so far, but worth the agonising wait. She'll even give him a harder time than what Katara did if that's any indication.
Powerpuff: This chapter was a bit of an unexpected boost for Akane's confidence with the Gaang, since it would've taken a lot of confidence to just kiss Sokka like she did even if she acted without realising. I focused a little more on Zuko this chapter since he wasn't even in the last chapter, and he's certainly had a lot to think about as you can see.
