So you thought only men could be creepy? Nuh-uh. Presenting to you, Queen Creep. Author's note at the end.

Trigger Warning: Psychopath alert, mention of incestuous fantasies, physical abuse.

Chapter 21

Just like every man before him, this one was proving to be a disappointment as well. Not for the lack of trying though, she would give him that. With his face buried between her legs, he was doing everything he could with his tongue and his fingers. But despite his best efforts, she was not feeling anything, and she could not be arsed to pretend that she did. Therein ley the problem. Azula couldn't feel. Not without him.

This man, like every other man before him, was nothing but a cheap substitute for the real one. Just like every other man, she had summoned this one to her bed simply because something about him had reminded Azula of him.

He was the only one who made her feel something. Without him life was a monotonous parade of pretending to feel. He made her feel alive. Because he was the only one that made her feel something, even if it was pure hatred. And Azula would take hatred over the empty chasm that was her heart. Which brought her back to the reason this man was in her bed now. Usually, in his absence, sex made her feel. For a few precious seconds, something like an emotion would flicker in her. Especially if she could humiliate her partner for the night, for in their humiliation, she saw his humiliation. There was nothing sweeter than that.

The man below stuck his tongue inside her and Azula rolled her eyes. How original, she thought. Of late, even sex was ceasing to be the outlet that it used to be. He was hers to toy with. Hers to torture and torment. But for some asinine reason, he was forbidden for her. She needed him, to be twisted and bended to her whims, as she had done when he was fourteen or how she had broken his relationship. He was her toy. Azula's. But an arbitrary societal rule said that he was denied. But if she couldn't have him, no one else would. She would destroy him.

With a growl, she reached down and grabbed the man by his hair and yanked him up. "Get out," she told him.

The man paled, "But Princess, was I not good enough?"

"I'm not here to give you a performance appraisal. The fact that you're walking out of here alive should be credit enough. Get out before that changes."

The man did not even bother to dress up. He simply gathered his clothes in his arms and ran out. Left alone, Azula diminished the light with a lazy flick of her wrist and dipped her fingers inside her core. Under her own ministrations, with his picture in her mind, she reached a shuddering climax. She felt.

She lay on the bed, exhausted, naked and covered in a fine sheen of sweat. She reached over and touched her breast, allowing herself to take the name of her favorite toy, the name she was otherwise forbidden to utter.

"Zuko."

Aang put a lump of hay in front of Appa and ruffled his fur. "Hey buddy, I'll just hop into the nearby village. I'll be back before you know it."

With a gust of wind, Aang sped off. He had stopped outside of a tiny hamlet in Earth Kingdom. The Air Nomads had each picked a direction randomly, and Aang ended up with South. Based on his calculations, if the Fire Prince took off South, then he would have to stop here. Especially since he had not taken any mode of transport with him. This little town was close enough for him to walk to but just about far enough that he would feel the need for a transport. He would have to stop here.

He sauntered into the town whose gates were marked with two giant platypusbear statues. He had barely taken ten steps when a shop keeper hollered at him. "Yo my good sir! Where be you headin'?"

"I'm just passing through," Aang replied waving at the man. "I'm just looking for someone. Perhaps you can help me?"

"Sure. Who may you be lookin' for?"

Aang was about to say the Fire Prince but paused. Long Feng had specifically said that he needed Zuko alive. If the word got out that he was roaming around the Earth Kingdom, then that would attract random bounty hunters, who might end up nabbing him or killing him before Aang could get to the man. Making his mind up, Aang said, "I'm looking for my friend. He's tall, shaggy black hair, and has a burn mark over his left eye? Have you seen someone like that?"

"Attacked by the Fire Nation, was he?" The man said, his face twisted in disgust. "Filthy assholes, all of them."

Aang made a non-committal noise. "Did you see my friend?"

"No sir, not me. You can ask some other people in the town though."

Aang bowed slightly to the shopkeeper. He trotted further into the town to continue his search and gather some more supplies.

Toph sat down on the dining table, stifling both a sob and a scream at the same time. Across her, her father Lao, her mother Poppy, and her uncle Utakata were engaged in a hearty, meaningless conversation. Listening to them go on and on about the sugarcane plantation, the part of family business that her uncle technically looked after, could fool people into thinking that there was no war going on anywhere in the world.

For the first time in her life she wished she had eyes, because she wanted to stare Utakata down. What was wrong with him? He had one of the biggest players of the war as his hostage and he was here, chatting about fucking sugarcanes? What gives? Why was no one talking about the bloody war? They had two incredibly talented Earth Benders at the table. An entire army of rebels and a bank balance that was almost equivalent of a small country. And yet, here they were, talking about fucking sugarcanes!

Unable to continue the charade, Toph slammed the table with her hands and shot to her feet. Poppy let out audible gasp and placed a hand on her heart, "Toph, honey, are you okay?"

"Of course she's not okay, Poppy," Lao tutted, dabbing his lips with a napkin. "She just hit the table. Her hands must be sore. Sora, please apply some salve on her hands and –"

"I'm going to sleep," Toph said through gritted teeth and marched out of the room, ignoring her parents. Cocooned in the finest of silks, she was going to suffocate to death.

Katara looked at him as though he had grown an extra head or something. Through the haze of pain, he could tell that she was crying. Not just a few tears, no. Her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks tear stained, and her breath was coming in short gasps.

"Katara?" his voice sounded even more raspy than usual, even to his own ears. "Are you okay?"

She wiped her tears and walked over to him, a tight frown on her face. She opened the canister and drew water to her hands. "Lie down. I'll heal you."

"What happened to you? What's not possible? What were you talking about?"

"I… I was just… talking to myself."

Zuko could identify the blatant lie in her words but realized she was not ready to offer him the truth. Pain corroded the courteousness and he snapped before he could stop himself, "Katara, if you don't want to tell me something, then don't. You don't owe me any explanations. But please, for fuck's sake, don't lie to me. I hate liars."

She stared at him, long and hard, before kneeling next to him. "I'm healing you now," she said tersely.

"Okay."

The silence that ensued was oppressive and heavy. She kept her eyes on his wounds and worked on them, her lips pressed together in a tight line. Lips. Why was there a bruise under her lip? It wasn't there when he had seen her earlier. Something had transpired while he was getting beaten up. His own pain forgotten, Zuko raised his hand and touched the bruise. Katara practically jumped a foot up in the air and scampered backwards. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Y-you have a bruise on your lip. What happened?"

Katara shook her head vigorously, breathing hard. Even from this distance, Zuko could tell that she was struggling to not break into fresh tears. "N…noth…. I don't want to talk about it. None of this is important. You… you're hurt. Let me heal you. Nothing else matters now."

She marched to the canister and pulled more water to her hands. When she walked back to him, her tears were gone, and her inscrutable mask was back in place. For reasons he didn't know, she had put her walls back up and that bothered him. The rest of his healing went on with her issuing an order or two here and there, but other than that, she maintained a silence that was stifling him.

When she broke the silence, her voice was so slow, he almost did not hear it. "Why did you kiss me, Zuko?"

"What? What are you even talking about?"

"You heard me," she said firmly. "You kissed me. Why?"

She had healed him enough that he could sit up, "Wha… Katara, if I do kiss you, I think I would remember it."

Katara looked at him squarely and said, "Think back to this morning, before they took you."

Zuko shook his head, feeling a smidgen of anger rising within him. Zuko opened his mouth to argue when he recalled that he had indeed pecked her on the lips. "Oh."

Katara's spine stiffened and her eyes narrowed, "Oh? You… that's all you have to say? Oh."

Zuko rubbed his temple, feeling a headache coming on from the day's events and it was not even noon yet. "Katara… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I –"

"Zuko! Stop," Katara shot to her feet and began pacing around the small enclosed space that was their prison. "I don't need an apology from you."

He shot to his feet, ignoring the pain that was in his body, "Then what do you want?"

"I don't know!" she screamed, clutching her hair, "Just… rest Zuko. You're hurt. I'll need a moment. I'll heal the rest of the wounds. Just… give me a minute."

Zuko sighed. He did not know what to say or do. He was under the impression that he was beginning to understand Katara. Up until now, her behavior, her reactions, her words, thus far had all made perfect sense to him. But at that moment, she was all over the place and he couldn't make any sense of it. Deciding to let her gather her thoughts, Zuko lowered himself on the floor and leaned against the wall, closed his eyes.

This prison, the beating he was sustaining, the pain – none of this was new to him. Well, technically speaking he had not been a prisoner before this, but he had always felt immured. Today, he was in a literal prison. He had not been lying, or showing off, when he said that he had endured worse. Because he had. On his fourteenth birthday. The day he stopped being a boy.

Zuko was at the library, pouring over a book. For as long as he could remember, his father had used his fists to talk to him. Ever since his mother passed away, things had only gotten worse. He had lost count of the number of days he had gone to bed with a bruised body. He had long since learned that the longer he stayed out of his father's sight, the longer he stayed safe. He was taking down notes when he noticed a shadow fall across his page. He looked up to find Azula standing with a hand on her hip.

"Dad's looking for you," she said, blowing on the nails of the other hand.

"For me?" Zuko said incredulously, his voice an odd mix of high-pitched squeak and a raspy tone.

"No, for me, you idiot! I don't even know why I bothered to pass the message to you since you clearly don't believe me," she sighed and her shoulders drooped, "Well, whatever. I'll just tell him you're too busy hiding in books to be bothered by trifling matters. Hallmark of the future Fire Lord, I'd say."

Zuko shot to his feet and was about to dash out of the library when the import of his sister's words sunk in, "Wait! You…Future Fire Lord."

She slapped a hand on her lips and giggled, "Oops, I've said too much. You should go."

Zuko couldn't stop the grin from spreading on his face as he walked to his father's chamber. It made sense. He was close to mastering the swords and he was inching closer to becoming a Fire Bending Master. And he turned fourteen today. Besides, per-tradition, the Crown Prince was appointed when they turned fourteen. The day was perfect. Nothing could go wrong. Zuko had a spring in his step when he reached his father's cabin and rang the bell.

"Come," his father's voice came from behind the door.

Zuko pushed the door open and stepped inside, surprised to find General Fa, General Yao and Commander Zhao sitting with his father. Belatedly remembering his manners, Zuko bowed.

"Zuko," his father looked at him with a frown. "What are you doing here?"

"I… Y… You called," Zuko winced internally at his inability to form a coherent sentence under his father's cool gaze.

"I didn't."

"But… Az..A…"

His father rolled his eyes and pointed at a chair.

Zuko obeyed and wondered why Azula had told him father had summoned him, when he hadn't. He never understood his sister's sense of humor and her weird pranks. His father was busy perusing a parchment, talking with General Yao, with General Fa adding something every now and then. Zuko felt Zhao's eyes on him and turned to look at the man. Something about that man never sat right with Zuko and he did not feel comfortable around Zhao. Finally, after what felt like hours, the three men left, leaving him with his father.

"Yes?"

"Father… A… yo…"

"Oh, for Agni's sake, speak up, boy! What do you want?"

"I… it's… I'm fourteen today."

"So?"

"Umm I…," Zuko cursed himself for not being able to speak clearly. He took a deep breath and lifted his chin up. "Father, I turn fourteen today and per tradition… I should be the Crown Prince."

"The Crown Prince?" Ozai lifted a brow. "Whatever made you think you can be the Crown Prince?"

Something inside Zuko snapped, "I'm the first-born son. It's my birth right."

"Do not take that tone with me boy or…"

"Or what?" Zuko snapped, shooting to his feet. Years' worth of suppressed anger bubbled forth, making him blind to the dangerous glint in Ozai's eyes. "What can you possibly do that you haven't already done?"

"You really want to know?" Ozai asked silkily.

"Yes."

"So be it."

The next thing Zuko knew, he was on the floor with his father pinning him down with his knee on his chest. When and how Ozai had tripped him, Zuko had no clue. Before he could figure out what his father had in mind, the left side of his face exploded in pain.

A/N: So, Azula's feelings for Zuko is actually confusing. She considers him to be her property to do what she wants. She's a psychopath here, who revels in torturing her victim. Like a true psychopath, she has no feelings or a moral compass. She doesn't quite understand why Zuko is forbidden. To her, sex is just a way to express her dominance. And Zuko is the one she wants to dominate. Hence her desires.