Hello everyone! Welcome to chapter 53 of Sparks Ignite! If you thought that last chapter was nuts, get ready for this one! This chapter ends with a huge cliffhanger! But don't worry! The next chapter will be up soon! Enjoy! As always, I do not own avatar or its characters. Onto the story!

P.S. I went back and fixed the last chapter! I'm not sure why that keeps happening but I will try to get to the bottom of it so chapters can come out on time for you guys! So if you missed the last one, its now uploaded for you!

Fate and Destiny are a funny thing. They are so permanent, but yet can be changed by the smallest thing. It can cause the moon and the sun to collide. Or the most opposite Sparks to Ignite.

Chapter 53: The Frozen Knife Part 1

The room erupted in roars of joy when Katara and Zuko walked through the door. There was a lot more people in the room then when they were there before. And everyone was excited to see what came next.

It was clear that Katara was the fan favorite throughout the palace, judging by the roar of applause she received when she walked in. But the issue was the advisors didn't seem moved by this grand gesture of the palace, more annoyed by it.

Zuko and Katara exchanged one more look before he moved back to sit next to his mother and Uncle. He sat down and let out a breath, rubbing his sweaty palms onto his pants. Ursa reached over and grabbed her sons hand and squeezed. He looked at her slightly grateful for her calming gesture, before turning his head back to Katara.

Katara moved to stand next to Mai, who went with a very different approach to Katara. Mai wore a long gown, much like the ones she wore on a regular basis. Normally her wardrobe consisted of burgundy and black, but this dress was a much brighter red with similar gold detailing to Katara's outfit. She looked regal, like a proper Fire Lady. And Katara guessed that's what she would be, and wanted to portray. Every part of her would be proper. She was raised to be that way. Katara wasn't.

But Katara knew somehow that this was her destiny. Like this was what she was made to do. She wouldn't stop until she was standing by Zuko's side.

Advisor Chen stood up, addressing the crowd, "Good day everyone. Thank you all for being here. Today is the last day of the Fire Lady tasks and today we will pronounce a courtship with Fire Lord Zuko"

He paused, looking amongst the crowd, then looking back at the two women before him, "While a Fire Lady is meant to stand by the Fire Lord's side, she is not a puppet. She is strong and fearless. But she does not always show it. Often times she is a silent killer. You both will demonstrate that today"

Katara tried to stand tall next to Mai, even though the other woman towered her by a few inches, her posture immaculate. She supposed she was trained to be that way.

"You each will have your own target and take turns, throwing your knife of choice to achieve the best score. You are allowed to use any knife in this arena. While these scores are important, they will not be an automatic win or lose. After both of you have taken two shots each, the advisors will exit in order to deliberate for 10 minutes, taking all the trials into account. Afterwards, we will announce our decision"

Chen looked between the two to make sure they both understood before nodding and continuing, "Lady Mai, you are up first. Please choose your weapon"

"Good luck" Mai looked taken aback at Katara's words. But instead of responding, she stuck her nose in the air and turned back to Advisor Chen. Mai nodded to him and went to the table. She barely had to look at it before she grabbed her usual blades. Katara couldn't help but roll her eyes to herself. The bias was uncanny.

Mai walked to the starting line and looked dead ahead at the target. Katara watched as she took a deep breath in, before the throwing the blade, then letting her breath out as it released from her hand. Katara watched the blade fly through the air and it landed dead center in the target.

Mai smirked to herself as she walked back to her place. She didn't hide her smugness from the water bender, in fact, quite the opposite. She did everything she could to make sure the other girl knew that she was proud of herself.

"Lady Katara, you may choose your weapon"

"Good luck" Mai spoke, but while Katara tried her best to seem genuine, Mai spoke in a condescending tone, like she would have just as easily thrown that blade straight at her face. Katara let out a breath and walked to the table. She pretended to look amongst the knives for a moment before turning back towards the advisor.

"You said any knife in this arena correct?" Katara asked.

Advisor Chen looked at her confused, and slightly annoyed at having to repeat himself, "I do believe that is what I said… Or are you hard of hearing?" he asked her.

A few of the advisors laughed at this comment, picking at the water bender. But Katara simply smiled back at him, "Oh just wanted to make sure"

With one sweeping motion of her hand, she pulled water from air, making sure to focus the water only from the center of the arena. She heard the crowd oohing at her motion but stayed focused. She pulled the water around herself and formed an ice knife, taking it in her hand and throwing it towards the target. She left her hand extended, aiming the knife as it flew through the air.

The frozen knife hit the center of the target with a bang. Katara smirked at her handy work and walked back to her spot, the smugness still evident on her face.

The crowd behind her was cheering at her display, happy with her outsmarting the advisors themselves. But the advisors weren't so happy. They were whispering amongst themselves, some of them more anxious then others.

Advisor Chen grit his teeth and cleared his throat, "Lady Mai, you may take your second shot"

Mai walked up to her spot, not as confident as she did the first time. She gulped and repeated the same motions she did the last time. But this time, the blade imbedded itself directly next to the bullseye.

Katara could hear screaming behind her. The voice seemed to resemble Mai's father. She turned slightly to glance over her shoulder and the man was out of his seat. He was yelling at her for missing the bullseye mark, as his wife tried desperately for him to return to his seat.

Mai moved back to her spot next to Katara, with her eyes down cast. Katara didn't wait for Chen to invite her for her second shot. She simply stepped forward and to her spot.

She took a deep breath, repeating her motions, this time with a little bit more difficulty. She had pulled a fair amount of humidity from the air already, so she had to search a little more to find enough.

But once she pulled the water from the air, she formed it back into the exact same ice knife and aimed it towards the target.

And when the frozen knife hit the board, it split her previous knife in two, hitting in the exact same spot. She smiled up at it, the crowd cheering once again. She moved back to her spot, a smug grin on her face.

Advisor Chen cleared his throat, "We would like to remind everyone that this is Fire Nation business, not a royal rumble match. So please keep your… cheering to a minimum"

Katara used every power in her not to laugh at his comment. When she found Zuko in the crowd, he was doing his best to do the same.

"The advisors will now take a moment to deliberate and then we will announce our decision"

The advisors all stood and moved from the room. Katara looked over at Zuko with a look of worry on her face. He tried his best to give her a look of reassurance, even though he was still freaking out on the inside.

The ten minutes that passed were the longest of her life. She tried her best not to tap her foot anxiously or play with her fingers, but she needed some sort of distraction from what was actually happening. Her whole future was being planned out for her, and she had no control over it.

When the advisors stepped back into the room, she was frozen, like the knife that was slowly melting against the target. They all took their seats and Chen stayed at the front of the room.

"We have reached a determination"

Her heart was thumping in her ears.

"The Fire Lord's right hand and the next Fire Lady will be…"

Her blood was rushing to her brain.

"Lady Mai"

Dun DUN DUUUNNNN! Uh oh! Lady Mai is the next Fire Lady! What will they do now! Stay tuned to find out! Until next time!