Chapter Five
They had finally made it to the palace in the fire nation and attendants were quick to summon their lord and aid the Avatar. The last two days had been very long. They had flown Appa to exhaustion, taking only the very briefest breaks and everyone was exhausted and starving. The stable hand approached first and bowed low.
"Avatar Aang and Master Katara, it is a great honor. Please, let me take your bison to our stables. He'll be well cared for by my staff."
"Thanks." Aang gave him a weary smile. "Appa's been flying way too much lately and needs a good meal and a long rest."
"Yes sir." He bowed once more before leading Appa away and Momo glided to follow, sensing a meal to come.
A servant appeared and beckoned the haggard teens into the palace's sitting room to await their old friend. Shortly after a steaming pot of tea carried on a tray by a familiar face entered.
"Well hello Aang, Katara, what a pleasant surprise." Iroh smiled at them graciously as he set the tray down on the table before them. "Tea?"
"Please, Iroh." Aang said, sinking into a formal bow, fist pressed into his open palm.
"It's so good to see you again Iroh!" Katara said, coming around the table to hug the fatherly older man.
"My dear, you both look so tired. Please, have a drink and tell me what brings you here. My nephew is finishing a meeting and will join us shortly." Iroh handed them each a steaming tea cup and smelling the delectable jasmine brew, Aang's stomach grumbled audibly.
"Zhei. Can you please bring us some pastries and fruit please?" Iroh called to a corner of the room where a maid was standing unobtrusively.
"Yes sir." She said and scurried away.
He looked into the grave faces of the young adults before him. "What troubles you two?"
Katara and Aang exchanged a look. "Where to start." Katara mused humorlessly.
"We were in a small village in the earth kingdom when it started." Aang begin, sipping his tea before continuing. "Katara was attacked."
"Oh my." Iroh said thoroughly shocked.
"There was one man and he caught me with a bolo. You know, one of those ropes with three lengths that have rocks on the end? He caught me, but Appa took care of him. By the time Aang got there, he was gone. We thought at first it was a random incident, but there's been more."
Aang nodded, looking tired and much older than his years. "Next we went further North than we normally would have, trying to put space between us and the incident just in case, but that night there were two of them this time. They tried to take Katara and attacked me too." He spun the cup in his hands watching the amber liquid with concern.
"After that we spoke with the mayor and came up with a couple theories." Katara said, continuing the story while Aang frowned into his tea. "We think it might be a large group spread all over the nation since they couldn't realistically keep up with us, so each attack had to be a different group, but they were the same; same outfits, weapons and target. They attacked again two nights ago. There were five and it was a close call. One of them could earth bend, but he didn't do so at first. Only when we were starting to take the lead. They disappeared again and I'm sure they were using tunnels." She paused for a moment, looking at Iroh and thinking about how to go about the next part. "The mayor we had been talking to told us there had been a recent jail break in the fire nation. We were wondering if it had anything to do with us."
She could see Iroh thinking something over. There was something he knew, but he was hesitant to tell them. She could tell he needed a little more before he could give them anything in return. "Aang, show him." Katara said softly.
Iroh's attention sharpened even further as Aang dug into his shirt and produced a dark bit of cloth and a gold coin. Iroh first looked at the coin and frowned as he recognized it as his nation's currency. Then he spread out the dark cloth, revealing it to be a hood and his eyes widened. "Goodness. This isn't good." He murmured to himself.
"What is it?" Katara asked eagerly.
Iroh held up a hand to stop them. "Zhei, please come in. Just there on the table is fine." He smiled at the young maid, but it seemed forced and didn't quite reach his eyes. "Thank you, that is all. Please don't allow anyone else in here until the fire lord comes."
"Yes sir." She bowed before quickly leaving and shutting the heavy wooden door behind her.
"What's going on Iroh?" Aang asked, ignoring the food despite the protest his stomach was making.
"I'll explain everything when prince… fire lord Zuko joins us. Meanwhile, is there anything else you can tell me about these men who've been attacking you?"
Aang and Katara shared another uneasy look before going into some more detailed recollections then they had given the first time around, including the long conversation they'd had with the mayor. Iroh nodded along silently, lost in his own reverie until the heavy door was pushed open.
Fire lord Zuko stood in the doorway, his hair swept up in a top knot with a golden flame stuck in it, his fine royal robes swept the ground and a wide smile was on his face. "Aang, Katara, I'm so glad you decided to visit. If you had let me know you were coming I would have cleared up my schedule a bit."
Seeing Zuko looking so happy was a good distraction from their problems and they dropped them temporarily to go greet their friend. Zuko held out a hand, but Aang brushed past it to grip him quickly with a quick pat on the back in the traditional guy hug. "It's good to see you again Zuko."
"Katara." Zuko said warmly, holding out his arms for her.
"Zuko." She went to him and was enfolded into his embrace. His cologne smelled nice and she was sure that after those days of being on the run had left her smelling far from what she would have preferred. Still, she hadn't seen her friend in a while and there was something comforting about his hug and his presence. He was that added bit of security that would allow her to let down her guard. "I missed you." She said, pulling back and smiling. "It's been almost four months since we last saw you."
"Too long." He agreed, smiling at his friends. "Please sit." He gestured back to the plush couch they had been sitting on. The exhaustion and hunger were returning with their thoughts not preoccupied by their troubles and both of the travel worn teens reached for something to eat from the assorted tray of goodies and sat back.
Zuko watched them eat for a moment before reclining in a chair across the table from them next to his Uncle who was quietly sipping tea. "So, what brings you two here?"
Katara who had just finished her small pastry paused before licking her fingers slowly and deliberately, giving her a chance to dwell on why they had come. Aang looked at her, took a long pull from his tea cup before setting it down, his face became heavy with a world of burdens on his young shoulders. "Well..." He hedged. "It's kind of a long story." Katara put her hand on his and he gripped her fingers.
Zuko sat up straight, sensing the unease in his friends. "What is it?" His voice became stern and both eyes, good and burned, stared hard from one to the other.
Katara gave Aang's hand a gentle squeeze and he sighed, launching once more into their latest adventures. In time, Iroh handed Zuko the hood and coin. Katara and Aang watched as Zuko's face took on the somber mask of horror as they described what had happened.
Katara looked from Zuko to his Uncle and back. "Iroh said there were some things to explain. Any information you have would be very beneficial. Aang and I… we're not sure what to do now. That's why we came here."
Zuko nodded before pacing behind the chair he had just vacated. "It's… interesting that these things are happening to you too." He said as he continued pacing. His tone would have scared her in the past, but he was her friend and he looked stressed and tired suddenly.
"Wait," Aang said. "What do you mean 'too'?"
Iroh watched his nephew with a concerned expression and Zuko stopped pacing, gripping the back of his chair as he faced Aang. "Katara isn't the only one who's dealt with these attacks. I recognize the hood."
Katara gasped and got to her feet. "Zuko, you too? What do they want with you?"
Zuko shook his head. "Naturally I assumed it had something to do with me being the fire lord, but if you've been targeted too, then that wouldn't make sense." He rubbed his forehead in a frustrated mien.
"Tell them nephew." Iroh urged quietly.
Zuko began pacing again, burning off nervous energy they supposed. "It started about a week ago, probably around the same night as your visitor. I was out by the turtle duck pond at night," he offered no further explanations. "I heard something, or rather, the turtle ducks went silent and I looked up just in time to fend off the same kind of bolo you described earlier. A guard saw the commotion but they found nothing. Two nights later I was doing some research in the library when three of them attacked. In the scuffle I knocked over a book shelf and some guards heard me. They all disappeared without a trace." His pacing faltered and his hands balled into fists for a moment before he continued. "It's been like that the last couple nights, I've had extra guards posted outside my chambers, but they seem to keep getting in."
During his description, Katara had sunk miserably into the soft cushions.
"What about the prison break?" Aang asked, trying to make sense of everything.
"It was the boiling rock. The one they had kept Suki and your dad in." Zuko said, watching Katara. "It's supposed to be one of our most secure prisons."
"But you, dad, Sokka and Suki got out." Katara objected.
"We were lucky and had help. Mai was the one who really got us out." At the mention of his girlfriend Zuko looked upset and it bothered Katara.
"Where is Mai? Is she alright?" Alarm was heavy in her voice and Zuko held out a hand to calm her.
"She's fine. She moved with her family to help her Uncle restore order. He's the warden at the boiling rock." Katara gave him a relieved smile that he halfheartedly returned. "Anyway, the boiling rock holds some of our more dangerous prisoners like war criminals, Azula, traitors…"
"Azula!" Aang shouted. "She got out?! But she's crazy!"
Zuko flopped back into his chair. "Azula wasn't one of the ones that escaped."
"Then who did?" Katara asked.
"Like I said, some war criminals, traitors, thieves, those of that ilk. No one capable of the attacks we've been experiencing."
"So that leaves us back at square one." Aang said disappointed and dropped his head into his hands.
"But Zuko is under the same attack as me. There has to be some correlation." Katara insisted.
Zuko shrugged. "I don't know. I can understand someone trying to get rid of me, but I can't figure out why they'd want you too."
Iroh stood up and caught everyone's attention with a smile. "Well," he said oddly cheerily. "It doesn't look like this matter will be resolved anytime soon. I insist you stay here until matters are sorted out. We'll have added security to make sure you're safe Katara." He beamed down at her in a paternally loving way.
In an attempt to lighten the mood, Katara gave a quiet cheer. "Yeah! A real bed and a hot bath."
"Not to mention food." Aang added brightly, picking up another delectable pastry.
"That's the spirit." Iroh chuckled. "Nephew, I'll inform the cooks and maids of our visitors, would you show them to their rooms?"
"Of course Uncle." Zuko stood, some of his warmth had come back and he gave them a small smile. "Follow me."
Sarahplainntall here! Hope you enjoyed! It's starting to pick up, right? :D Just wait, there's more! Comment and I'll update soon.