A/N: Wow, guys, thanks again so much for reading and reviewing! I know I am not being as consistent as you'd hope with these stories (unfortunately, time is just not something I have in over-abundance). I've been actually working really hard and devoting a great portion of my time to my podcast, Damnsels, which is a feminist/nerdy podcast where we do deep dives on our favorite female characters. If you guys want to give it a listen, please do! It's on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Anchor, Pocketcasts and like four more. I also talk about Zutara on it, and defend it with all my bones!
It's been a while since I've addressed all my reviewers, so I'll do that at the end of this chapter. Otherwise, enjoy!
Zuko stared up at the moon as he walked forward from the forest. His cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. He couldn't believe he had been so petty to just run off like that. The thought of hurting Katara had deeply disturbed him, however. He had known he could be capable of such things, but he never wanted to see them come to fruition. For a split moment, tonight, he was sure they had. Turns out, it was just a game to her.
He shook his head trying once again to clear the thoughts. It had been a few hours now, and al the partygoers had returned home. The rest had piled into various rooms at the estate and snoozed lazily, exhausted from all of the reveling. As he approached the beach where they had fought earlier, he noticed Katara.
Her body was magnificent in the moonlight. The dark color of her skin was a contrast to the almost luminescent sand beneath her, and she arched her back as she let the water caress her body with the incoming tide. He stopped- not wanting to disturb her. She was a sight to behold, and he wanted to take it in for as long as he could. He breathed softly and crouched slightly, behind a small jetty, not wanting to bring attention to himself. She looked so peaceful.
Suddenly, however, she seemed to have sensed a presence and Zuko began to get up. However, it was not him that she sensed. In the distance, from the opposite direction of his emergence, was a small glowing light. It seemed to blink in and out of existence and he became somewhat transfixed by it, until Katara broke the line of sight. She stood, compelled toward it, walking slowly. She was speaking, but he couldn't make out what she was saying. She seemed transfixed, and a horrible feeling started to rise in Zuko's stomach.
He readied a small flame in his hand as he saw a figure, darkened by the night, approaching her as if coming out of nowhere. He stood up, now uncaring of whether or not she would notice him- she'd be glad he was.
He only saw the blue arrows on the figure's skin when he got slightly closer. They seemed to glow in the night light of the moon. While it surprised him that Aang had returned, he still felt something in the pit of his stomach and it ate at him, in the most unnerving way. He had expected relief to wash over him when he saw his friend, but there was none- only fear.
Aang reached out to Katara and Zuko called after them.
"Aang! You're back!" He said, as he struggled his way up the beach through the sand. He waved his arms in the air, the flame still illuminated in one hand now acting as a beacon to bring attention to him.
Katara turned to face him and Zuko stopped in his tracks. She was only about ten feet from him now, but he could see the look in her eyes- she was staring right through him. Aang faced Zuko as well, his expression calm and collected. The Airbender suddenly grabbed out and latched his hand around Katara's neck, lifting her off the ground as he used his other hand to bend the air around him. Zuko's eyes were widened with horror, but Katara was not afraid. She through him, unflinching, making no efforts to fight the airbender- but her eyes were welling with tears. His strength propelled them into the night sky and completely out of view. Zuko stared up at the night sky, unsure of what he had just seen, mouth agape as he searched above for his friends. He felt a single droplet fall and it splattered against his lip, salty to the taste.
Zuko's blood ran cold as he heard an unhumanly loud cracking noise and everything went black.
"Fire Lord Zuko?" A meek voice awoke Zuko as a slightly cold hand pressed against his shoulder, awakening him. His eyes blinked open, slightly crusty with fresh sleep, and he shooed the hand away. As his arm came up to wipe the cold sweat from his brow, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. Naked against the cold, he shivered slightly, retrieving his robe from the chair beside the bed.
"I'm sorry, your excellency, but you have a meeting this morning and I thought maybe we could have breakf-"
"You may go," he snapped, reaching into a drawer on his night stand, he retrieved a small bag of coins. He tossed them at the girl, still not looking in her direction, then retreated to his adjoined bathing room and slammed the door. The young girl gathered her clothing, the coins, and left quietly.
Zuko pressed his hands against the counter and leaned into it, staring at himself in the large ornate mirror before him. His eyes were red with restlessness, despite having a full and restful night of sleep after…well, just after. He noticed a small, almost inconceivable mark on his neck, and he mentally cursed himself for having picked up a concubine from outside of the royal circle. She was not vetted or knowledgeable about how to respect royalty when sharing their bed, and the number one rule was to not leave any evidence you were ever there- especially on the Fire Lord's body.
Zuko growled slightly, and splashed some water on his face from the basin in front of him. The shock to his system roused him completely, and he thought for a moment he heard a slight, familiar giggle. He remembered how often his face would be splashed with water, and how often the culprit of that would be a certain waterbender with a certain penchant for splashing a certain firebender.
A quiet knock was heard on his bedroom door and Zuko peered his head out from his bathing room to acknowledge it.
"Nephew, your daily briefing is ready." Iroh's voice was muffled by the large door.
Zuko tied his sash on his robe and emerged from his bathing chamber to open his bed chamber door and usher his uncle inside. Iroh bowed at the Fire Lord, an unnecessary politeness that Zuko had long since abandoned returning, even with his family. Iroh made himself comfortable at a small tea table by the window, a fresh pot of orange pekoe and two cups already laid out for them. Zuko mindlessly made his way to sit in front of his uncle, who was unrolling pieces of parchment before them. He reached his hand on the table towards not the teapot, but a flask that lay haphazardly on its side. He unceremoniously unscrewed the top, eliciting a glare from his Uncle as he raised it to his lips. The smell of the fire whiskey tempted him, but he instead poured a generous amount into his tea cup, allowing his Uncle to splash some of the warm tea into it.
"Now, Ambassador Sokka is-"
"Sokka. You can just call him Sokka, Uncle. It's fine." Zuko's tone was annoyed at his Uncle's formalities.
"Right, Sokka has quickly responded to the message of Katara's return and is on his way to the capital as we speak. I assume the ravens we sent will reach the Southern Water Tribes later today and so I would expect Chief Hakoda to be arriving in a few days."
Iroh busied himself while he spoke with smoothing the parchments out in front of him. There were three- one was a scrawling scribble of nonsense-that must have been from Sokka- and another was a missive from the Air Temple confirming that the Avatar had not yet returned. The third was…
"And acting Ambassador Bei Fong has also written back." Iroh scooted the final piece of parchment towards Zuko who snatched it off of the table. Iroh looked down into his teacup while Zuko read the parchment to himself. Finally, Zuko looked up.
"Get out." He said, his eyes clenched shut. Tears began to well behind them, but Zuko did not permit them to flow. His Uncle sat, unmoving, unthreatened by Zuko's demeanor.
"You know, Nephew, drinking and bedding concubines is a bandage you no longer need." He said, understandingly, as he placed his hand over his nephew's balled fist that pressed into the table with more force than it should. His fist was warm. "Katara has returned…When she has regained her strength, we can enlist her aid and-"
"Get out!" He screamed this time, standing as his hand became engulfed in flames, igniting the letters from Sokka and the Air Nomads. His Uncle retained his composure but let go of Zuko's hand. The old general stood and bowed to his nephew once more. He made his way toward the door before turning to Zuko once more.
"You should see her, Zuko. It will help you and…" He paused as his nephew quickly extinguished the flames and stared at him with eyes that begged for help. "She has asked for you."
Zuko brushed the ashes off of the table as his Uncle departed, rereading the only part of the lonely singed letter that remained. Toph's assistant's handwriting was a mix of looped letters and block ones, but the message was clear.
'…you're my friend, Zuko, but you're distracted. I'm afraid the counsel might make good on their threats, Zuko…
I'm afraid they're going to start a war…"
A/N: Again, I know this was a short one, but I've got to get the exposition to go SOMEWHERE. I can't wait until 10 years from now, I'm re-reading and revising this and laughing at my awful deus ex machinas.
Bettevelour: Edge of your seat is where you should be at all times. Just don't fall off.
BlondeBandit: I hope it wasn't too twisty for you- oh wait, yes I do! Also, it's probably a good idea to re-read some of the chapters especially considering how long it takes me to upload sometimes. Sorry about that!
xoxoMizzWest: Thank you for reading- I am not trying to kill anyone, so I hope you're still alive! Katara has been...somewhere. As for his dreams, lets just say everything that happens here on out is not a dream sequence, unless otherwise stated. Yes, Katara was there with Zuko at the palace for his birthday, yes, they did go to Ember Island, etc. All of that was real. But basically, she seemed to come out of a kind of trance and somehow ended up in the royal palace gardens. Want to find out how? Keep reading! Thanks for not giving up on me. Also I hope your five day weekend was good! Wisdom teeth suck and I hope it went well. I still don't have mine out, but who has time for that?!
ShainaCobra:Cela peut être difficile à comprendre avec une barrière linguistique, mais je fais de mon mieux! Si vous avez besoin de plus amples explications, faites le moi savoir. Merci pour la lecture!
Everydaysaholliday: *frightened, much smaller t-rex screech" Okay!
Rach12901: Creepy!Ozai is a pretty common theme in my stories. I don't know why- I just love a creepy villain. Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Thepeanutgallery1: Thank you!
That's as far back as I am going with recognition right now so if you want me to shout you out, leave more reviews. Also check out my podcast, and if you do, let me know that you did! I'll maybe give you a shout out on an episode in the future.