AVATAR

The Young Lady Of Legends

She was a shy, self-centered and overall lazy dreamer from our world, transported to the world of Avatar where she's the stuff of some sort of legend. She also can't continue being lazy, not if a certain agitated prince gets his way. ZukoXOcc

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Author's Notes: Happy 2012! !

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CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

ThePhoenixAnd His Flame

"Oh and, a word of warning…Azula's not going to take your relationship very well. Not that I care, or anything…"

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Emma's P.O.V:

Upon returning to the Fire Nation, Zuko and I endeavoured to keep our relationship a secret. This was actually a lot easier than it should have been, since Zuko was so busy being a Prince, and I was straight back into my Firebending lessons. I hadn't told Zuko who my teacher was yet, which was probably a good thing. He would have freaked…it had been bad enough that he was suddenly asking me a lot of questions about where I was throughout the day and who my teacher was…I'd changed the subject each time, and occasionally just said it was a random person.

I knew he'd find out eventually, and just hoped he wouldn't yell at me or anything…

Being back in the Fire Nation for the first day or so had been tense – until nobody had mentioned the jailbreak.

That confused me, although what confused me even more was when nobody mentioned my duel with Azula…not even Azula herself, although that wasn't so surprising…

She now had the strange habit of calling me to her for no reason other than to help her with her hair, or to give her fashion advice (fashion advice? From me?). She usually did it when I was with Zuko, and I wondered if it was like some form of strange avenging-karma…

I didn't understand everyone's behaviour. I couldn't get anywhere near the prison at the moment (they'd upped the security and all) and going to see Kai and the others was a no-no as well. They – the guards – were now watching me like Messenger Hawks, which meant that I couldn't go to the island and risk it being discovered (by them).

So, I was stuck in the palace, being treated like royalty and training at dawn every day, nurturing the newborn Yang-Chong, and trying to find some time to see Zuko every now and then. It kept me busy, so I didn't really have time to worry about Azula and Mei.

It wasn't until four days later, when Ozai and I were training together, that my world fell apart…

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Zuko's P.O.V:

I walked through the halls four days after we'd come back from EmberIsland, waving off servants who approached me, and looking for Emma. I had hardly spent a minute with her since returning to the palace, and there hadn't been any time to discuss our relationship, if that's what it was. I wasn't entirely sure if what we had was a relationship, but I was fairly certain that it was our lack of 'alone time' that was contributing to this unsureness.

I found Azula, standing in a hallway and berating some poor serving girl for spilling the tea.

"What would have happened if you'd spilled this on me? !" My sister yelled.

"I-I'm sorry, P-Princess!" The poor attendant squeaked, her forehead pressed to the floor. "P-please forgive me!"

"You're fired." Azula replied coldly, and the attendant let out a sob and ran from the hall.

I watched her go, and then said: "You know, there's gonna be nobody left here if you keep on firing people like that." It was the third one this month. Or, was it the fourth? It was so hard to keep track with Azula…

Azula shrugged. "So what?" She looked around. "Emma should be here. She makes good tea…for a peasant…"

I shook my head. "I don't know where she is. I've been looking everywhere for her." I gave my sister a Look, one that meant 'stop calling her peasant'.

My sister raised an eyebrow. "You don't know? She's in the Agni Kai Chamber."

"What's she doing in there?" I wanted to know.

Azula rolled her eyes. "Getting a manicure." She said, sarcastically. "Look, Dumb-Dumb, what do you think she's doing? She's training…" She suddenly got a sly look about her. "Wanna go watch?" She suggested.

"Can we?" I blinked.

Azula shrugged, again. "Probably not. Still, I want you to see this."

O~O~O~O

Azula and I snuck into the Agni Kai Chamber, making sure to keep as quiet as possible, which wasn't really necessary considering all the noise coming from in there.

My insides had turned to ice upon entering the place of my dishonour and shame. I wanted to turn around and run back out, but curiosity got the better of me, and I hid behind the stands with Azula.

My eyes opened wide when I saw the fight.

Fire surrounded Emma, in a series of blazing arcs, which spiralled around her body as she dodged the fire-infused punch aimed at her by…

My heart nearly stopped beating, as I watched my Father battle the girl I cared about.

There was a ferocious edge to him that had always frightened me, but now, when Emma was the one on the receiving end of such power, I was utterly terrified.

But, even more surprising, was Emma's own power.

It was a side of her I'd never seen before, not even in her duel with Azula. Her moves were a lot more aggressive than I had ever seen them before. There was sweat glistening on her bare arms and stomach, and all of her attention was focused on the man in front of her. She suddenly swung her arms out in front of her, directing all of her fire at my Father. At the same time, he did the same thing.

An explosion followed, and both Azula and I shielded our eyes from the heat.

When the smoke subsided, Azula and I looked again.

My Father stood in the middle of the arena, which floor now looked very crumbly.

Emma knelt respectfully three feet away from him, her shoulders heaving with her heavy gasps. Embers fell from the sky, settling on the broken tiles.

"You have done well, Emma." My Father said.

"Thank you, Sifu." She replied. I noticed that her strange pink light glowed around her forehead.

I was frozen now. Emma's Firebending teacher was…my Father?

"I understand that you were able to defeat my daughter in your Agni Kai." My Father continued.

"Not easily, Sire." She replied. "I almost lost. Princess Azula is an incredibly talented Firebender…" Was it just me, or did she look a little bit uncomfortable, and…just the tiniest bit…guilty?

"As, it seems, are you." My Father said, evenly. "Many older Firebenders who have been training for years have been unable to defeat her. But you…I only wish I had been there to see it."

"I followed your orders, Milord." Emma replied, with just the tiniest edge to her voice.

I didn't realise that my fingernails were digging into my palms until I accidentally broke the skin. I rubbed my hand on my robes.

"Yes, you did." My Father nodded. "As per our agreement, the prisoners will not be searched for, and Karai and her babies will not be executed."

It was becoming increasingly harder for me to breathe by that stage, and I hoped I wouldn't faint. Beside me, Azula had gone still all of a sudden.

"Thank you." There was a definite edge to her voice now, and I wondered why my Father hadn't lost his temper yet. His back was to me, so I couldn't see his face. I was suddenly very aware of the fact that he was bare-chested, and this fact did nothing to quell my nerves.

"As you remember, before I sent you toEmberIsland, I mentioned a second part to our agreement." My Father said. "If you won…which you did. I am pleased. Rise, Emma." He commanded.

She did so, and I caught the uncertain look on her face as she did.

My Father leaned down, and his raven hair swung down between them, obscuring his and her face as he said something to her very quietly.

I don't know what he said, but about twenty seconds passed, and then Emma gasped audibly, and taken about six steps back, clutching her left hand to her chest and looking horrified. Her face was now sheet white, and she was shaking.

She stood there for a few more seconds, and then turned and ran. Her footsteps echoed in the otherwise silent Agni Kai Chamber and, when she reached the wall, she Earthbended straight through it. Said wall shattered upon impact, and she just kept on running.

Under the cover of the crumbling wall, Azula turned to me and whispered: "What was that all about?" Her eyes were glittering, since she was so sure Emma was gonna get into trouble after this. Running from my Father, and then shattering a wall…she'd really done it this time…

"I dunno…but I'm gonna find out." I vowed quietly, and stealthily exited through a side door.

O~O~O~O

I searched all over the palace for Emma, but couldn't find her anywhere. I debated whether or not to run to my Uncle for help, and eventually decided to.

However, I was halfway to the prison compound, when I was approached by the golden-haired Zhu.

The Priestess walked calmly towards me. I stopped, and waited, tensely.

"You just missed her." Zhu told me.

"Who?" I just looked at her.

She sighed. "I know you're looking for Emma. Yes, she's very upset, and yes, I think you're the only one who could calm her down right now. I couldn't, and neither could your Uncle…" She gave me an intense look. "Perhaps what she needs right now…is you."

O~O~O~O

The first place I looked for Emma was her room, but she wasn't there.

Yang-Chong was sleeping on a pile of blankets and pillows, in a patch of sunshine streaming in through the window. Next to him was a map. I recognized Emma's hand-writing – it looked like she'd been using the map to practice writing for this world. Jun, a bounty-hunter with a Shirshu that can track people's scents. Tough. Loves money. I wasn't sure what that meant, but Emma had marked this Jun's location on her map. What's a Shirshu?

I suddenly became aware of a presence behind me, and turned to see Emma standing there. There were tear tracks on her face, and she looked more upset than I had ever seen anyone before…

"Emma?" I instinctively held out my arms to her, but she didn't accept them. I took a step towards her. "Emma, what's wrong? What happened?" I took her by the shoulders. "Emma, talk to me? Tell me what happened…" I shook her slightly, worried by her behaviour.

"I can't…" She whispered, tears gathering in her eyes. "He made me promise…"

"Who did?" I asked urgently. "My Father? What did he say to you?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Zuko, but…we can't be together anymore. And, not for the reason you think…"

I felt like someone had just rammed an ice-rod down my throat. Stunned, I asked her: "Why? Did my Father find out about us?"

She shook her head again. "N-no, it's not that, it's just…" Tears dripped down her face, as she detached herself from me, and then pushed me outside of her room, and slammed the door shut.

"Emma?" I called to her through the door. "Emma, please let me back in!" I pounded on the door. "Emma, we have to talk about this, please open the door!"

There was no answer and, after about five minutes, I gave up. I sat with my back leaning against the door, staring up at the ceiling.

What had happened? What had my Father said to her, to make her so upset? Why wouldn't she talk to me about it?

Unaccustomed tears formed in my eyes, and I blinked hastily to stop them from falling.

Then, on the other side of the door, I heard soft sobbing, and envisioned Emma sitting with her back leaning against the other side.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked softly.

"I'm sorry, Zuko…it's killing me, too…" She replied, but she still wouldn't tell me what was going on.

I now knew how she and Mei had felt the times I'd broken up with them.