A/N:

Second Chapter for the night

Chapter 51:

Seeing the waterbender standing in the dimly lit kitchen late at night, having herself a cup of freshly brewed tea that she didn't let remain empty for long, Atsou revealed himself from the darkness in which he had been hiding. Katara was unfazed as she had sensed him for the entirety of his time staring in secret. She sighed and brought the cup of tea to her lips, her blue eyes on him. Atsou smirked and rested himself against the counter right beside her.

"You look lovely this evening as always." He said brushing the silver strand of hair away from her face.

Swatting his hand from her face, "You had information to share with me, Atsou." She reminded him as she was not for playing games right now.

Atsou leaned off of the counter and moved himself behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I have far more than information for you, Mean One. You just have to be willing."

"Start talking before I go through with my desire to turn coat."

Pressing his lips to Katara's ear, "But you've never really been on my side, have you? All that intel you've been giving Ozai. Did you really think you could hide all your dealings with him from me? You wanted to keep him a step ahead of me but you were always five steps behind me."

Katara slammed the teacup on the counter, breaking it, and taking the shard before turning around to attack him. The two struggle and Katara finally got the better of him, stabbing him several times in the face. She laughed maniacally as she had finally put an end to this son of a bitch and soon her laughter turned to tears as she cried out.

"It's over. It's over! It's finally over!" She told herself as she fell back on her bottom in relief, staring at the corpse.

"Guess again, mean one."

The waterbender looked up and saw Atsou standing over his own corpse. Confusion took over Katara as she felt all kinds of terror from this revelation. What the hell was going on? How?!

Smirking as he snapped his fingers and the corpse disappeared, "One of my abilities is creating the most believable illusions. Like that night you caught 'Ozai' with Princess Kikyo. And now, of course."

Katara began hyperventilating as he went on to inform her about his powers and how they made him a far greater foe than she had ever anticipated. It turned out that Atsou didn't exactly need fire or the light of the sun to see all things under its light. He could actually see the past, the present, and then the many futures that revealed themselves as the present unfolded. He wasn't just saying a bunch of nonsense earlier. He knew what she had done, what she was doing, and what she would do. Atsou knew everything in relation to her and others. Nothing got past him. He simply played along as if he knew nothing.

"I know all about the whispers between you and Ozai. You think there is a way around my endgame but there is not. Every time you alter the path, I just create another one leading back to my desired goal. You cannot stop me." Atsou walked up to her and crouched down, gently caressing her face. "You're incredibly loyal, just not to me, but I admire that. Your loyalty is what kills him. I've already seen what will happen."

Feeling the grief of loss settle into her even before she has lost anything, Katara shook her head as Atsou continued caressing her face and shut her eyes as she trembled.

"I can also alter the way chi flows and control it." He smiled at her. "Something I learned in the old ruins of the sun warriors. The black substance I injected in you allows me to control your motives whenever you're bending. Every time you use your bending, I'm able to set you on the path to kill our foes."

It made sense. All the times she had been fighting a foe, Ozai, the northern, she lost control and could only strike to kill. Her eyes would turn black and she would fall into what she could only describe as madness. But this entire time, Atsou had been controlling her.

Seeing how defeated she appeared, Atsou wiped her tears away. "You're my queen, Katara. Technically, you're 'our' queen but we were intended to be one person."

Opening her teary eyes, "What are you talking about, Atsou? One person?"

"Ozai and I aren't quite twins." Atsou started and as he could see her widened, he chuckled. "Ozai needs me to be greater and I need him to be whole. We were never meant to be twins but the past has a lot to do with it."

Katara furrowed her brows, "You're talking nonsense."

"Perhaps, it's better I show you."

The waterbender's eyes widened when Atsou forced his lips on her and soon, her eyes fluttered shut. Her body fell limp across the floor as the partial phoenix gazed down upon her and stared lovingly. Picking up her unconscious body, Atsou carried her through the black portal he opened in the teashop kitchen.

…

Zuko wasn't really sure why the Earth King had summoned them all here and why Aang and a few others weren't present. Perhaps, it was all Atsou's doing. While he might be aiding his estranged uncle in killing his father, he was not exactly onboard with all the man's methods. One of which being involving Katara and threatening her children and loved ones in order to force her into submission. And two being the involvement of his supposedly 'dead' sister, whom he was currently watching stalk their father. He had notice Azula do this pretty frequently in the last few days he had been in Ba Seng Se. For some reason, she wanted to approach their father but hadn't mustered up the courage.

At first, Zuko felt like she was better off not involving herself with their father but now, he felt some pity for her. Azula didn't seem like the same person he knew as a child. She had this melancholy air to her. A desperation to be acknowledged and seen. He felt he should help her.

"He's ignoring you." Zuko stated as he approached her.

Azula sighed and slowly turned around to see her oldest brother. "You think I don't know that?"

"You're better off-"

"You hate our father. You always have. But not me. I've always loved him and you can't imagine how much it hurts knowing that he's living merrily without me." Azula's expression was somber as she turned back around to look at her father. "Look at him. That's not even his daughter but because she belongs to that water wench, he can't help but dote on her. No differently than he does with his other children by her."

Peaking around the pillar they were hidden behind, Zuko looked to saw his father playing with Mailan and his new pet. He could see one of his father's rare smiles on his face as Mailan and Kiko occupied his attention. It was true. Ozai loved the children of the woman he loved. It was undeniable.

Zuko leaned against the pillar she was hiding behind and folded his arms, "Our father never loved our mother but he fell for Katara. It's natural to love the children you had with someone you loved."

"Well my daughter's father and I were in love but that didn't stop him from drowning her to save his own ass!" Azula hollered at Zuko as tears rolled down her pale porcelain cheeks.

The Fire Lord was taken aback by her statement. Azula had a daughter...and she was drowned by her father.

Wiping her tears away with the back of her hands, "I just wan-"

"Look, daddy! Zuko!" Mailan pointed Zuko's way after sensing him.

Ozai returned around and stared at a pillar and narrowed his eyes. He told Mailan to go on and return to their chambers with Kiko. When she was gone, Ozai approached the pillar and rounded it. There he found his eldest son and daughter standing there with questionable looks on their faces.

"The hell are you two doing?" Ozai glared between the two of them.

"Nothing." They said in unison.

Eyeing the two, Ozai's eyes focused his gaze on Azula and snorted. "What's with the tears?"

Sniffling, "Nothing."

"Always lying."

"I am not."

"I know when you're lying and tears are never for nothing."

"I'm not! It's nothing! Nothing you'll give a fuck about!"

"Ah, this is about me disowning you," Ozai said nonchalantly.

"You bastard! I'm still your daughter!" Azula shouted at him.

Zuko grabbed her and held her back as she was about to lunge at their father.

"Let me at him!" Azula screamed as tears started streaming down her face.

"Azula, no."

"How does he love a child that's not even his! But cases me, his flesh and blood, away!"

"You attack Kya twice," Ozai informed her. "Once when she was fourteen and then again at the gala! She's my flesh and blood too but that didn't matter to you! You attacked her with no hesitation."

"But I had to! I have to do a lot I don't want to!"

"You and Katara seem to have similar excuses." Ozai spat.

Azula tried breaking out of Zuko's hold when Ozai grabbed her and threw her up against the pillar by her neck. Zuko tried to stop him but he grabbed him by the neck too.

Glaring at Azula, "You stay away from my other children, you wretch."

Zuko watched his sister's face contort in anguish upon hearing their father tell her to stay away. It ate him up inside. He knew how much Azula loved their father even as children. To hear their father just discard her, was hurtful to watch.

"I don't care what compelled you, you don't get to hurt my children and get off scot-free!" Ozai hissed.

"Dad, she's your daughter too!" Zuko chimed in. "Azula is as much your daughter as Kya!"

"Doesn't matter. It was Kya that attacked her sister." Ozai tightened his hold on Zuko's neck.

Azula closes her eyes, "I-I-m sorry." She mumbles with tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry's not gonna cut it!"

Fed up with this, Zuko pries his father's hand off of his neck annd bends it behind his father's back. Hissing in his ear as his eyes glowed, "You let her go or I swear to the high heavens that you'll lose an arm!"

Ozai clenched his teeth, "You'd advocate for her? She tried killing Kya, tried killing you! Why?!"

"Azula is my sister, the same as Kya. You don't care to hurt either of them as punishment." Zuko pushed Ozai's arm up even further causing the man some pain as he sunk his claws into his skin. "You did the same to Kya!"

"I'm their father! I'll discipline them if I want!"

"This is not discipline, Ozai!"

Ozai turned into a black flame and maneuvered away from Zuko, taking his shape a safe distance away.

"You both should keep your distance."

As their father skulked off, Zuko looked over his sister and pulled her to him. He held her as she fell apart after their father's cruel words. He assured her that she could always come stay with him.

Azula sniffled and looked up at Zuko, "Really?"

Wiping her eyes for her, "Of course. You're not the only one he's discarded."

Azula embraced her brother and buried her face in his chest as he patted her head.

…

Rubbing her head as she sat up from her lying position, Katara looked around and saw she was in some dark place.

"Pathetic." A familiar voice said.

Suddenly, a blue glow brightened up to place as Katara climbed to her feet and looked around her. Spotting her siren, the waterbender stood there in astonishment and saw the siren glaring at her angrily. Her siren sat upon a throne of ice, draped in fur. The siren wore exotic and revealing clothes. It was the first time her siren didn't resemble her and finally had her own appearance. This must be how she truly looked.

"How did I end up with such a pathetic woman as my host?" The siren said as she tilted her head, eyeing her venomously with her fluorescent blue orbs. "Do you even know how powerful you are with me?! You haven't used half of what we're capable of! And then you claim to be too weak to beat Atsou! He's nothing compared to us! No creature or Phoenix is a match for us! Yet you CHOOSE to be weak! Pathetic!"

The words made Katara flinch.

Standing up from her throne, the Siren glared at her host and made her way to her. "In my days before becoming a siren soul, I was the queen of the Northern Tribe. I nearly decimated the Fire Nation. Killed the Avatar of my time. And I shaped the world as you see it now. I was a force to be reckoned with and nothing got in my way."

"So how did you die?" Katara asked flatly as her siren was clearly getting full of herself.

Throwing her out in front of her, the siren lifted Katara up in the air and began strangling her in mid-air. "I died because I lost focus and let my heart get in the way."

Breaking out of the siren's hold, Katara manifested water from thin air and began attacking the siren. However; the siren made no moves at the water splatters all around and suddenly figures formed from the splatter. Katara's mouth dropped as her siren smirked at her and sent her thralls to attack her host. The thralls attacked at all angles and while they had her attention, the siren threw a spear at Katara. Struck in the gut and hoisted off her feet, the waterbender gaped at her siren as blood spilled from her mouth.

"You can't beat me if you can't deal with two incomplete phoenixes." The siren told her as she grinned at her skewered body. "But I will teach you everything, including telling you about my past."

Spitting blood at the siren, "Fuck that and finish me, bitch!"

Wiping the blood from her face, "Desperation is such an ugly look on you, Katara. But I'll fix that right up."

The siren waved her hand and the ice spear melted with her thralls. She then took the water and made a water mirror. Soon an image of the siren in her time of being alive appeared in the water mirror and the siren stared somberly at herself before giving her host a seldom look.

"Before you were born, I never got the chance to preside in a host before, but the gods finally choose a host for me. You. I guess this is my punishment." returning to staring longingly at her living form. "I fell in love much like you and he killed me. Killed us."

Katara's demeanor softened as could feel the sudden wave of grief fill the space they were contained in. "He sounds like an evil bastard."

"Oh, no. He wasn't. Otohiko was anything but evil." The siren thought fondly about her past love. "However, he and I clashed on a lot of things. In the end, it caused a lot of destruction, innocent lives lost, and our deaths. Surely, you know how I feel?"

The waterbender did indeed know exactly how her siren felt.

"Otohiko was a phoenix like Ozai. He was also the Fire Lord."

Katara raised a brow, "What? Really?"

The siren nodded and let Katara down from the spear she was impaled on, her wound immediately healing.

"I'll show you all that happened. That way, you can understand the mistakes you're making."

…..

(Siren POV)

A thousand years ago, I was born in the Northern Water Tribe and grew up an orphan. At least, that's what I thought. It would take a few decades for me to realize that I wasn't normal. I was going on my fortieth birthday when I realized that I hadn't looked a day over sixteen. My first husband speculated that something was incredibly wrong. We went to the tribe's priest and priestess to figure out what was wrong. I spent another forty years trying to figure out what was wrong with me. When my first husband laid on his deathbed, I realized that I wouldn't be able to join him in the afterlife and that broke me.

"Kalhime," He caressed my face as I knelt beside him in our hut, crying. "Look at this as a gift from the gods. You will never know the fear of dying. I'm sorry I couldn't give you children to keep you company."

Holding his hand that cupped my cheek, I felt him pass on and I had never felt so sorrowful in my eighty years of living. Little did I know that I would experience far worse in the years to come.

When it became common knowledge that I was somehow immortal, the temple priest and priestess took advantage of my 'gift'. I was used for bearing children that would also be immortal. Those children were forced on me by any man that wanted me and many did. Each of my children were taken from me at birth. All of them girls. A total of forty children over the span of fifty years. It was painful and it was misery like I had never before imagined. My own people did this to me.

Eventually, I learned I was not powerless. I learned that my basic bending abilities went beyond what any other could do and so I begged to have a master instructor teach me. None would for fear I would rise above all others. However, I caught the eye of the Chieftain. Juto. He decided to teach me under the condition I married him. It was a win-win. I'd learn to master water and I would be free of being cattle.

My second husband was an alright man. Nowhere near as sweet and loving as my first but he was nothing like my tormentors. But maybe, he should have been. The more I learn, the more I realized how unstoppable I was. I was marvelously gifted and all this time I had wasted it all. But not anymore.

You see, Katara, I was not a sweet or compassionate woman as I was before. Too much wrong had been done to me. They really ruined me and for that, I could not forgive. The first thing I learned was to heal, not with water but through sucking the life force from another. I'd just breathed them in and they would wilt until my injuries were healed. The worse the injury, the more life force I required of them.

Juto soon realized how powerful and how dangerous I was. He stopped teaching me and tried to convince me that my power meant nothing. He told me only those that ruled had true power. He was right...so I killed him.

It wasn't long after that I had received complete control over all my abilities. I got control of the daughters of mine that seemed to share my ailment and lead them to attack their fathers and their fathers' families and the temple priests. The Northern Water Tribe was mine and from that point forward, I became its queen for the next five hundred years.

Around the first three hundred, my existence became something to be marveled at and something to be feared. I came up with a back story to what I was. That the god Tui and the goddess La birth me into existence to preside over the Northern Water Tribe. I called myself and my daughters and granddaughters sirens but some saw us more as witches.

The Fire Nation saw me as a witch. It's Fire Lord especially thought so. He spotted me and a few of my daughters traveling the seas by glaciers, a little too close to his country's coastline. If you had asked me, all bodies of water were mine and when he confronted me, I retaliated. The Fire Nation at the time was three times the size it is now but I saw to it that two-thirds of it being sunken beneath the ocean, lost forever. Otohiko, the Fire Lord during this time, did not back down to me. He declared war on me and my nation and his soldiers were fierce. Many had lost everything to the destruction I caused and my wanting revenge at all cost, even their lives were up for grabs. And I took those lives. Me and my daughters and male soldiers I threw at them.

The casualties were great and I mourned the few daughters I had lost in the war effort. It was during this time that I had discovered two new abilities. The first was that I could use water to create thralls that obeyed my command and the second was I could make ice a live entity that could take over the body I allowed it to possess. Ice necromancy. Every lost body on either side soon became my alley.

The Fire Nation and its ruler fell to me. I entered the Fire Nation palace and found the Fire Lord about to disembowel himself. I stopped him as letting him kill himself was no fun and I wanted to make him pay for the daughters I lost.

"Kill me if you want, witch! But leave the people alone!" Otohiko hissed at me.

Most men I dealt with always fell on their knees and begged for their lives. However, Otohiko did neither. He didn't kneel or beg for his life. The man stood over me, glaring daggers at me, and offered his life in exchange for the people he ruled over. That and his good looks were enough to persuade me to a different outcome. I offered Otohiko forgiveness and a chance to save not only his people but himself. All he had to do was marry me. He agreed. But that was only the start of the end for me.

….

(Siren/Kalhime POV)

It was the tenth year of our marriage. Otohiko and I could actually say we fell in love with one another. It was the first time since my first husband that I felt this way. Otohiko was nothing like the arrogant Fire Lord I had met off the coast of the Fire Nation. He was kind, sweet, and very loving. Passionate would be the best word to describe a man like him.

Otohiko decided for our tenth year, we'd go visit the Southern Earth Kingdom and spend our anniversary there. He seemed to love the southern Earth Kingdom. The grassy planes and breezy weather was unlike his homelands or mine. I grew to appreciate it as well. However, it was there that I had begun to have my suspicions about Otohiko. Something I probably should have looked into before offering an alternative to death.

We were roaming the countryside outside of Omashu as commoners when we were attacked by bandits. It was no hassle taking them out. Me being the powerful immortal I was and him being a master firebender, we slaughtered our foes with ease. Something that turned us both on. We were two power-hungry people with a bloodlust that we never knew we had. The two of us got freaky in the woods beside the corpses of our enemies and as we were about to reach climax like no other, Otohiko's eyes shifted red the same way mine would glow blue.

I decided not to say anything in case it was my doing but I soon began to doubt that theory as time went on. More strange things took place with Otohiko. Like when sparring, his wounds healed immediately after getting grazed a few times by my blade, and occasionally, I'd catch him staring into fire as if he were watching something. Eventually, more of his odd behaviors that I had overlooked became known to me and I confronted him. Reluctantly, he told me the truth. He was a phoenix. Something very similar to me but of Fire Nation origins. This should have comforted me as I knew I wasn't the only one and there could be more. However, him withholding this information from me for a decade of our marriage really rubbed me the wrong way.

I left Otohiko in the Southern Earth Kingdom and returned home. He had pissed me off so much that I couldn't stand to be near him and needed space. But the man would write me nonetheless. Asking if I were okay. Telling me he missed me. All things I wanted to say in return but I did. My pride wouldn't allow me. Forty years went by before I saw him again and Otohiko had made himself a lovely estate in the Southern Earth Kingdom. I went to visit to finally apologize and ask him to come back home with me but when I got there, Otohiko was with a woman. A mere mortal. She was young and beautiful, not that it would remain that way for long. How could he dare involve himself with someone so beneath him? Beneath me. Out of spite and jealousy, I killed the woman right in front of him. Drank the life force out of her just so he could watch her wilt before his very eyes.

"What have you done, Kalhime?!" Otohiko shouted at me for the first time since he agreed to be my husband.

"You cheating bastard! How could you?!" I had screamed back at him.

It was then that I learned the woman was nothing more than a servant to his estate and I had killed an innocent woman. Otohiko saw me differently that day. Even though he returned home with me, he never again looked at me the same way. My beauty and charm were soon overlooked as he could only see me for what I had become. A monster.

There is something to be said about what happens to a woman believed to be a monster. She tends to be forced to become one whether she was or wasn't. Abuse and trauma can really bring the worst out of a person. Otohiko didn't understand why I was the way I was. He didn't know I was protecting myself. Protecting those I loved. Protecting us.

Eventually, Otohiko could stand it no more and called me out. We had never really argued ever but that day I found myself in tears for the first time in over a hundred years. My grief and heartache was too much that I violently retaliated. Before I knew it, Otohiko had a blade of ice across his middle, and blood spilt from his lips. I thought he was alright since he was immortal like me but no. I learned that day that phoenixes, while able to survive all mortal wounds, could not survive fatal injuries from that of a loved one. Something about their heart being broken that kills them. I don't know. Otohiko wasn't able to say much as I begged him not to leave me. I didn't want to be alone again. I wanted to be with him always. So, I followed him in death. I killed myself, in the same way, I had caught him nearly about to do all those years before, disemboweling.

…..

(General POV)

Dissolving the water mirror, Kalhime turned and looked at Katara would looked to be in deep thought about what she learned.

"Slicing my husband in half and him dying is why he was reincarnated as twins, instead of one person." The siren explained. "Ozai and Atsou were never supposed to be two different people. They were always supposed to be one."

Katara suddenly understood what Atsou meant earlier. He and Ozai were incomplete due to the past. Just like she was Kalhime's reincarnation, Ozai and Atsou were Otohiko's. It made sense to a degree. Both were flawed but to imagine them as one person, that would be quite the sight. There was no denying that with both their flaws thrown by the other's strengths, they'd be perfect. However, a perfect Ozai didn't seem real to her. Nor was it something she wanted.

"I just wished things could have been different," Kalhime said somberly. "I loved Otohiko more than anything. I want him back, Katara. Can you make that happen?"

Katara wore an indifferent expression as if nothing the siren said had penetrated her heart, "Not interested."

"What?!"

"You heard," Katara said scornfully. "I have no interest in bringing Otohiko back. Ozai is my husband. I wouldn't give him up so you can make up for your past mistake because you were a crazy bitch. That's not my problem. My problem is you fucks keep trying to kill him and use me to do it! I don't appreciate it."

Kalhime could only smirk as she folded her arms, "Very well. I'll just take over when the time comes. I will have Otohiko back."

"Good luck." Katara scoffed.

Fed up with her host, "Be gone, wretch!"

Having a falling sensation, Katara woke up out of her sleep in a panic and gasped for air as she was ushered back into her reality. She slowly began to calm down as she looked around her and saw she was in the Earth King's palace. Hearing snoring, the waterbender looked beside her and saw Atsou sleeping in the bed he had tucked her into. She stared at him hard for a moment, realizing he must be the twin that inherited the visions of Otohiko. Perhaps, the top half of the man as he retained the memories of the past, making Ozai the bottom half. Explains why Ozai is so much of a dick.

Sighing, Katara threw off the cover and took off into the night. She needed some air and to get her thoughts together. This had all been a lot to swallow and a few drinks might actually calm her nerves.

…..

"So nothing out of the usual?" Ami asked as she held her clipboard and asked the Phoenix King a bunch of questions that she checked off.

Shaking his head, Ozai confirmed that nothing out of the usual took place with Kiko. She was such a sweet girl and he loved the tiger-dillo. Kiko was precious to him.

"Excellent, I think the immortality serum is doing her well. I think we should move on to the breeding phase." Ami suggested.

Ozai raised a brow, "You're going to breed my girl?" he didn't like the sound of that.

Ami had to once again explain to the Phoenix King that Kiko was still a test subject and that they needed to confirm it the serum was passed down to offspring. This was a necessary discovery if they were ever going to release Kiko into the wild someday. They needed to be sure that Kiko could have children and them not inherit the serum's effects.

Katara was climbing out of Atsou's window and scaling the side of the building when she managed to overhear Ozai speaking with the Ami woman that basically got her accused of killing her whore of a younger sister. Anyways, she was on her way further down the wall when she heard Ami tell him that she needed to make sure Kiko, Ozai's pet, didn't pass the immortality serum immortality down to her offspring. This made Katara pause and listen to the two go back and forth over breeding the immortal tiger-dillo. Wanting to check out the pet's true level of immortality, Katara crept in the direction where Ozai's guest chambers were.

Sneaking her way in, Katara looked around the chambers for Kiko and found her sleeping in Mailan's room. She would have to discuss with Ozai why having a wild animal sleep in her six-years-old daughter's bed was terrible parenting. Obviously, Ozai still had some things to work on. She threw a pebble into the room and it managed to catch Kiko's attention without waking up Mailan. The tiger-dillo spotted Katara and growled lowly as she stalked out of Mailan's room. The waterbender slowly and cautiously lead the wild beast out the room and down the hall to the living room.

"Let's go, kitty." Katara smirked as an ice dagger appeared in her hands.

Ozai yawned as he was tired from his long day of entertaining a bunch of idiot nobles and politicians. He was going to soak in the tub and drink to the lost bottle of gin before bed. However, as he approached his chambers, reaching for the doorknob and pausing, he felt her presence inside. Not here for a late-night tryst, are you?

Opening the door, Oza entered and slowly made his way to the sitting area of his chambers, where he sensed Katara. "Tell me, waterbender. Why is it you only tolerate me when the sun has set and the moon is in full blo-" Immediately pausing at the sight he came upon in the sitting room. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Covered in scratches and blood, Katara patted and turned around to see Ozai gaping at her. She figured finding her in his temporary living quarters holding an ice dagger covered in his pet's blood had him nearly speechless.

Gaze darkening as he clenched his fists, "You wicked woman, what have you done to my KIKO?!"

Smearing the blood off of her face, "Heard you and Ami talking about her being immortal. Wanted to see for myself." Katara spoke like she hadn't just done the worst thing you could do to a fur daddy.

Eyes shifting red, "I'm going to kill you!" He hissed and was about to charge at her when Kiko reanimated and jumped Katara, biting into her neck.

"Kiko! No!" Ozai shouted as he hurried over to get his kitten off of his ex.

"You fat pussy! Get off of me!" Katara yelled as the tiger-dillo tried making her a chew toy again.

Grabbing Kiko, Ozai yanked her off of Katara and the waterbender cried out in pain as she was released. He tried consoling his precious Kiko while his ex-wife rolled around on the floor holding her wounded shoulder.

"People aren't food, Kiko. Even nutty women like her." Ozai caressed Kiko's bloody fur and knew he needed to give her a bath. You can bathe with me, precious.

Managing to get to her feet, Katara limped over to where Ozai was crouched down and felt her eyes begin to glow. She was pretty knocked up and she wanted to see if she could actually tap into that self-healing ability her siren said she had. As she closed the distance with her distracted ex, Katara took one deep breath and tried absorbing the life force from Ozai. He was immortal, so she didn't fear killing him as she might accidentally do to someone else. However, as she tried drinking doing this, it didn't work but her glowing eyes did look at the nape of his neck that was exposed due to his hair being short now.

Ozai was about to address Katara invasion of his chambers when he suddenly felt her come behind him. Her hands fell on his shoulders as he felt her mouth on his neck. At first, he thought she was probably drunk and out of her fucking mind at the moment. But, then he felt her break the skin of his neck and start drawing his blood. Ozai immediately swatted her like she was a bug, knocking her away from him.

Standing up, Ozai turned around and looked at her like she was crazy while Kiko growled behind him. He shushed up Kiko as he glared at his crazy ex-wife scramble to her feet.

"What the hell is wrong with you, woman?!" He demanded an explanation for her odd behavior this evening.

Panting as she was back on her feet, "I need...I need-" Katara limped back to him. "I need your life force."

"What?!" He looked at her as a madwoman.

"Please. Just a little. You're immortal. You have plenty to spare." Just that little taste was driving her crazy. Now, she understood why Ozai had a problem in the past with cannibalizing.

Seeing that she had definitely lost her mind, Ozai jabbed her in her pressure points and watched her collapse. Standing over the waterbender, the Phoenix King saw her bleed out from her shoulder and crouched down to her. In experimentation, Ozai dug his nail in his wrist and drew blood. He slowly lowered his wrist to her lips and was surprised when she grabbed his arm, pressing her lips to his wound. Hissing through his teeth, Ozai watched her injuries heal and suddenly understood what she had been trying to do.

"Learned a new trick?" He asked casually.

Nodding her head as she continued drinking his blood.

"This is surprisingly arousing."

Letting go in that instance, Katara eyed him and climbed to her feet. She wiped her mouth and got ready to leave.

"Mind telling me what you were doing here, tonight?" Ozai stood up.

"Night, Ozai." Katara said as she used the puddle of her own blood to open a portal and left.

In her wake, Ozai looked at Kiko and saw her tilting her head at him. For some reason, he felt he was being judged by the beast for having a bloody kink.

"What?!" He became defensive. "I have issues, okay?! Fuck, I can't help it."

Kiko groaned at her flustered master.

When Katara returned to the shop, Katara saw Daikoku and Azula both in the guest room of Iroh's shop having a drink. She gained looks from them and she let them know that she found the scientist, informing them of who she was.

"So we're killing my dad's side piece?" Azula mused. "Hilarious."

"You sure a woman stupid enough to involve herself with him would be a scientist that discovered a serum for immortality? Or are we just jealous?" Daikoku asked.

Katara shot him a dirty look, "She's it. Ozai's pet tiger-dillo has the serum in her. I tested it out. The serum is real and she created it."

The two exchanged looks as their expressions hardened.

"Atsou cannot get his hands on her, you hear me? See to it that he doesn't find out." Katara instructed them.

Even though Atsou told her how he knew everything, Katara had hope that perhaps he was lying just to make her feel helpless or that she could still beat him at this game of his. She had to believe there was a way. She needed to save Ozai and their family. She couldn't let Atsou and her siren get what they wanted. To hell with Otohiko's full resurrection. She'd see to it that he remained dead.

…

"Don't go getting into any trouble, Ms. Katara." Iroh humored as he packed his different tea making items into a box.

Katara chuckled and nodded her head, "I just plan to find a nice spot to draw."

"Ah, yes. Ozai told me Kya got her gift of drawing from you." Iroh smiled at the waterbender.

Smiling back, "It's the only thing I'm really good at."

"Oh, don't say that. There is plenty you are good at. Ozai has said such and I have witnessed firsthand." Iroh patted her back. "But please do take care of yourself. I won't be too long. Just a midday brunch with your father and brother as well as my nephew and brother."

Katara kissed Iroh's temple before he left. She had really gotten to like the old man. He was really a breath of fresh air compared to the other members of his family. With his nephew and brother obsessing over her, his niece having back and forth feelings towards her (were they friends or not), and his long lost brother using her as a weapon to kill his other brother or he'd wipe out all their children. Yeah, Iroh was the most sane and refreshing person out of the family.

Leaving the tea shop with Azula and Daikoku tailing her in case she needed back up, Katara found a quiet park. There was a cozy looking tree with a nice view of the surrounding area. A perfect place to draw. Climbing up the tree, the waterbender made herself comfortable on a thick sturdy branch and pulled her sketchbook from out of her satchel.

While Katara tried relaxing from the nonsense of her life, she was interrupted by a voice that was somewhat familiar. Glancing down, she saw Ozai's 'girlfriend' looking up at her from below. Sigh, what now? Not any bullshit I hope.

Sensing Azula and Daikoku tense up to ready themselves for an attack, Katara gave the signal to stand down and jumped down from the tree in order to give this woman his undivided attention. She flips her long silver hair over her shoulder as she stared at the princess with an impassively cold gaze.

Feeling a little intimidated by the older woman, "I just wanted to apologize for having you take the fall for Kikyo's 'death' and involving Ozai. I know he means a lot to you."

Snorting as she rolled her eyes, "We've been on and off again for more than twenty years. It's an understatement to say he means a lot to me." Katara averted her eyes as she folded her arms. "I've known him since I was a girl but I guess that's all said and done."

Ami could understand that, though it was still taking some time for her to acknowledge the woman was forty despite her eternal youthfulness. The waterbender clearly felt a deep connection to her ex-husband. They share children, memories, hardships, and more. Of course, it wouldn't be so easy for either to move on. However, Ami knew the two were equally as tired of the inconsistency and the uncertainty. They were literally just waiting for the other to finally put the nail in the coffin. Maybe they needed someone to step in and help them.

"I was wondering, since you're kind of in a bind from what Ozai's told me, how do you feel about him moving on?" Ami asked without hesitation.

Katara's lips twitch in amusement, "I already assumed you two were involved."

"Well...not quite." Ami pulled her chin length hair behind her ear. "Ozai has yet to-

The waterbender bursted out laughing.

Offended by this, Ami switched gears. "What's funny?"

"Nothing." Katara continued laughing hysterically.

"You know, he's been really upset after your most recent split and you're here being a bitch because he can't bring himself to tell you the truth."

"And the truth is?" The humor had run dry as she folded her am and shifted her weight to one leg, raising a brow in scrutiny of this palace pooch.

Ami hardened her expression, "The truth is he knows you don't see him as anymore than something to play with. You toy with him and his feelings because you know he won't be so easy to let go of you."

There were some things that Katara had begun to tolerate very little of in recent years and that was disrespect. She didn't care about royals and nobility. At the age of 19 she stood up to the world's most feared tyrant and refused to back down to him when he disrespected her. And after all these years and being a woman at the age of forty, Katara would be damned if she let some palace pooch say whatever she wanted to her. She might not have killed this woman's younger sister but when that little bitch tried to seduce her ex husband and called her a peasant, she was definitely contemplating it.

Switching into her sassy tribeswoman mode, Katara shoved her two fingers to Ami's temple and snarled. "Don't speak on things that you know nothing about!"

"I know eno-"

Katara slapped the woman dead across her face and spat on Ami when she stumbled back. "You don't know shit!"

Holding her bruised cheek that stung, Ami was speechless as she was slapped and spat on.

"Ozai clearly hasn't warned you about me. I'm not to be trifled with. Stay in your place, princess, and mind your own business."

The waterbender stormed off as she was annoyed with these highborn bitches that wanted Ozai. If the idiots wanted to involve themselves with him, then by all means. It would help her maintain a certain distance between her and Ozai that she wanted to maintain if she survived the shit she was about to involve herself in. She and Ozai might need to have a serious conversation since this woman felt she could come to her woman to woman. The hell with that. Katara just wanted to be left the hell alone.

"You okay?" Daikoku asked as Katara walked past him and led them away from the park.

Azula rolled her eyes as she followed behind the two, "My father should check his women."

"I don't know what Ozai has told her but she's not as smart as he has said her to be." Katara stated while wearing a stark expression on her face. "Neither of you are to touch her, you hear me?"

The two exchanged looks before looking back at the pissed off waterbender.

Her face going dark and grim, "When it is time to kill her, I want to be the one to kill the bitch."

…

A/N:

Finally, we get into the love triangle between Ozai and two women instead of Katara and two men :D wonder how that's gonna go.

Two more chapters left for second chances and then I'll do the final story in this trilogy I worked out. Where We Stand is the first and this one, like the title implies, the Second. So one more story finish up this journey and do not fret, that one will be equally as long if not longer because we reach the modern era by the last portion! I'm trying to write a few chapters in advance for the next story and I already have two long chapters but I'll try to get at least 5-10 chapters to start the story out.