Hello everyone! Welcome to chapter 54 of Sparks Ignite! What's going to happen next? I know a lot of you weren't expecting that! I wanted to do something a little unexpected and throw a wrench into this love story. It can't all be smooth sailing! So keep on reading to see what happens next! As always, I do not own avatar or its characters. Onto the story!

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 54: The Frozen Knife Part 2

Her entire world went black. It was white noise all around her. Advisor Chen kept talking but she didn't hear a word. She knew that the crowd was whispering about their decision, but she couldn't hear a word. She knew Zuko was shouting at them, screaming out of anger. But she didn't hear a single word.

Black fogged her vision. It was like her entire world just faded away. If someone had told her that Mai had taken the frozen knife off the target and shoved it into her heart, she would believe them. But it wasn't just one knife, it was hundreds. Hundreds of frozen knives were stabbing her over and over, like pins and needles but worse.

Her entire body felt cold, like someone dipped her into the frozen water of the south pole and pulled her out. But when they pulled her out, nobody dried her off. They just let her freeze to the ground. She couldn't move or touch anything, just simply feel the pain of being frozen alive. She felt a pull of her arm, leading her away and she didn't know why but she followed. She followed the person out of the room and away from the chaos.

Even as they ran away from the scene, she couldn't see, she couldn't feel. All of her senses were stripped away from her.

She was pulled into her bedroom and sat down at the bed. As reality started to come back into view, she saw Ursa standing in front of her. Ursa kneeled in front of the girl and took her hands. But Katara just stared almost blankly back at her. Nothing had sunk in. She felt as if she were dreaming everything that was happening to her.

"Zuko will do everything he can to change their minds… I know my son and he won't stop until he can be with you proudly" Ursa tried to tell her, to comfort the girl. Her heart was breaking for the both of them. She wanted to go the advisors herself and scream in their faces. But she knew she had no control. This was not her decision to make.

"We lost… It's over…" Katara spoke, not to Ursa, but to herself. Even though she heard the words with her own ears, it didn't feel real.

Ursa shook her head, "It's not over… Zuko will fight tooth and nail to overturn this…"

"They announce in a week… We lost… Love lost…" Katara spoke again. Ursa was quiet, knowing that the girl needed to feel whatever she was feeling at her own time and pace. No matter what Ursa said right now, Katara wouldn't hear it. She was cut off from any other thoughts but her own.

A single tear fell down Katara's cheek, and that single tear turned into more and more until she sat there sobbing. Ursa pulled her into her chest, holding her as if she were holding her own daughter.

Katara screamed as she cried, her heart ripping into a hundred little pieces. She clutched at Ursa's shirt as the older woman, who she grew to love like her own mother, rubbed circles on her back. She let out every single bit of emotion she was feeling, it rushing over her like a tidal wave. She let herself feel every bit of it.

Zuko screamed at the advisors,

"How dare you?!"

"How could you defy my wishes?!"

He saw the looks on the people in the crowd. Everyone thought she had won. Everyone thought she was the perfect fit. But the advisors were intent on making it a different story.

Iroh grabbed a hold of his arm and tried to pull him away. But Zuko shrugged him off, fully intending on fighting each advisor himself. It was easy to see which ones were which. The ones who disagreed with the decision sat in their seat with scowls of disgust on their face, wondering how they could do this to their own Fire Lord. The ones who agreed had smugness written all over their features. It was the look of 'I won'. He wanted to burn the look off their face until their skull shone underneath.

But the most potent of the group were the ones on the fence. The ones that were convinced to vote for Mai hugged sheepishly into their seats. They refused to meet anybody's gaze. They knew they were wrong. They knew they made a bad choice, but they're too proud to admit it. So they hide in their seats like cowards.

"Son, it's in your best interest to leave here now… If you stay and do what you wish, you will like what they do next even less" his Uncle told him. Zuko watched him and reluctantly followed him. Even though he didn't want to admit it, his Uncle had a point. But the fire in his heart and red in his eyes wanted him to choose differently.

Iroh knew exactly what his nephew was feeling. He knew what it was like to not be able to be with the person he loved. But even this was worse than that. His wife was allowed to sire his children and be his wife. Katara was granted none of the sort, other than a mere concubine to the Fire Lord if she wished.

Iroh knew that angered Zuko more than anything else.

He led Zuko to a spare bedroom and shut the door behind him. Zuko looked around the room with a bit of confusion on his face, "What in the hell are we doing here?" he asked him, expecting the man to led him to his bedroom or his office.

"I was thinking this is much less precious stuff to destroy… So go ahead, be on your way" Uncle spoke in a calm tone.

Zuko looked at him for a moment, then looked around the room. He grabbed a vase off the shelf and threw it at the wall. He didn't normally express his anger this way, he normally just yelled at whatever caused it, but he had to admit that when the vase hit the wall and shattered, a small bit of his anger washed away.

He tore down the tapestries and took paintings off the wall, throwing them across the room. He lit fire to the bed posts and the bed sheets. He didn't even notice how Iroh was following behind him, extinguishing the fire so it wouldn't catch to the rest of the palace. He smashed the glass in the window. He did everything he could to destroy as much as he could.

But it didn't take away the pain. The more he destroyed, the harder he began to sob. He looked around the torn, charred, and destroyed furniture and fell to his knees. He erupted in tears, asking Agni why it had to be this way.

Iroh came up and kneeled beside him, pulling the boy in his arms. If anybody saw the Fire Lord in this state, they would say he was weak, unfit for the throne. But Iroh disagreed with all of them. It made him stronger to feel these things.

He remembered back to when his nephew was aboard his ship, chasing after the Avatar. The prince pushed everything inside back then. He never let anybody hurt him, after all that his father had done. He himself would've thought his tears were weak.

It was how much Katara had changed him. From the day in the cave, until now, he was two different people. Katara brought so much light and happiness into his life. And Iroh cringed at the thought of the person he saw his nephew turning into without her.

It scared Iroh to death but he saw his brother. He saw a ruthless leader that cared only for himself and his kingdom. Everything else would be taken away from him.

Iroh let the man cry until his aching cries turned to gentle sobs. He spoke gently, "You have two choices my nephew…" he told him. Zuko looked up at this, his swollen puffy eyes looking back at his Uncle.

"You can accept it… Try to build a happy life with Mai… Live your life for your advisors…" he reasoned, which only upset Zuko more at the thought, but he continued, "Or…"

Iroh paused for a moment, "You fight back… I was too power hungry to fight for my wife… To fight for us to have the chance to be together… And she would've made a wonderful Fire Lady… So fight for your chance… Live your life for yourself"

Zuko looked down, pondering this himself. He mulled over his words and when he looked back up at his Uncle, it was like he was a changed man. He had determination written all over his face. Iroh was sure that not even a rock could stop him.

He was going to fight for his own happiness.

Ta-Daaa! What do you think? Tragedy has struck, but can they turn it around? Find out! Until next time!