Chapter Twenty-Six

The next morning, everyone was spread out around the table for breakfast. Sokka was half asleep, but piling every type of breakfast meat on his plate. Suki sat beside him with a loving smile as she watched her ravenous boyfriend shovel food into his face. Aang was giving Momo who was perched on his shoulder some of his fruit. Toph was following Sokka's lead and eating anything unhealthy within reach. Iroh had a steaming tea cup and modest breakfast before him. Katara decided tea was all she needed, knowing the upcoming announcement as Zuko finally made his way to the table.

"Morning." He greeted them all and remained standing behind his chair until he had everyone's attention. Well, almost everyone. Suki had to elbow Sokka to get him to look up from his food. "I, uh, have an announcement to make." Zuko said, nervously gripping the back of the chair. "I've decided to challenge Azula to an Agni Kai."

Iroh spit tea across the table and Katara patted his shoulder worriedly as he choked. Aang dropped the fruit he'd been holding and it rolled beneath the table where Momo pounced on it. Sokka's fork clattered on his plate and his mouth hung open revealing half eaten food.

"What?!" Suki yelled at the same time Toph demanded, "Are you crazy?!"

Zuko kept his composure as he was berated with questions. Once there was a break he pulled his chair out and sat, regarding each person stonily before proceeding to explain.

"Look, the reason Azula's targeting Katara and myself is because she believes we robbed her of the throne. She believes that it was rightfully hers. If I challenge her to an Agni Kai it will lure her out of hiding and give her a fair opportunity to take back the throne."

"Ohhh…" Sokka said. "I get it. It's a trap!"

Zuko shook his head. "No. That would not be the honorable way." Zuko said with a nod to his Uncle who looked grim but returned the nod.

"That's stupid!" Toph declared. "You know Azula won't fight fair. She has all those Dai Lee guys on her side."

"And the chi blocker." Suki chimed in with her arms folded across her chest.

"It's not an ideal situation, but I agree with Zuko." Katara said. "He wants a fair fight with Azula and we can make sure he gets one. Sokka, you and Iroh can plan and make sure she doesn't have any tricks, which we all know she will. We've beaten her before, we can do it again."

"I still think this is stupid…" Toph muttered.

"If that's what you want to do, you have my support." Aang said diplomatically.

A great look of relief crossed Zuko's face. "Thank you guys so much. It means a lot that I have your support.

That afternoon while Katara was at the clinic, Zuko gathered his council together along with Iroh, Suki, Sokka, Toph and Aang. The council of course immediately disapproved of the plan but he was valiantly backed by his friends, especially Toph. Though she may have agreed with the council on principal, she couldn't pass up an opportunity to argue with them. Once everyone had come to a grudging agreement, they began to plan. The first step was to find a way to issue the challenge to Azula, wherever she may have been hiding.

Left with no better options, they decided that flyers announcing the Fire Lord's challenge spread all across the nations would be the best route. Zuko was warned by his advisors of the potential backlash of his citizens or other leaders by offering Azula an opportunity to the throne, but Zuko assured them he was prepared for such a reaction. The rest of the day was spent amongst his advisors and friends, figuring out the details and it was a long and exhausting day.

After Katara's long shift at the hospital and of course a light dinner and tea with Iroh, it was time for a long luxurious bath in the giant marble tub. She let the water run hot as she generously added a sweetly scented bottle of gel that formed bubbles in the frothing water. Once the tub was full, she stripped out of her clothes and gingerly lowered herself into the hot, bubbly water. Her mind wandered over her patients; Peony, the little burn victim girl was coming along nicely, an older man named Zhen who had chronic lung problems had seen her several times in the past few weeks and all the miscellaneous people in-between. She took a deep breath and submerged herself beneath the surface as her long brown hair drifted around her and she could see the torch lights flickering through the surface of the water not covered in frothing masses of bubbles. She emerged slowly, her hair draping over her damp shoulders as she emerged. She leaned back on the slanted wall and stared at the luxury all around her, letting her mind drift back to that mornings conversation. She was sure that the details had been handled, Zuko was good like that and between him, Iroh, her brother, the council and their other friends, she was sure there was some kind of plan of action. After her bath, she would go ask Zuko all about it. In the meantime, she cleared her mind as much as possible and focused on scrubbing herself clean and just enjoying the relaxing aroma of the bubbles and the warm water.

Once she was all clean, she bended herself dry and wandered to her wardrobe that contained all her clothing and the extras she had accumulated since she had started staying in the palace and many of the servants and maids that attended to her were horrified by her dismal selection of apparel. She shifted the soft silks and cottons aside until she found one of the blue satin night gowns she had grown accustomed to wearing in the tropical climates of the warm nights here in the palace in the middle of the fire nation and donned it. She sat before the large vanity with an opulent mirror and took the ivory and silver hair brush, running it through the soft brown waves of her hair. Satisfied that she was presentable, she made her way to the secret panel and gave a soft knock before cracking open the door and peering in.

The scarred Fire Lord was nowhere to be seen, so as she stepped into the room she saw the gossamer curtains blowing in the gentle night breeze. Leaning on his balcony, staring out into the moonlit garden stood Zuko in the soft pants he wore to bed and a short-sleeved robe that was left open to flutter lightly in the breeze.

"Hey." She called softly.

"Hey. How was the clinic?"

"Good. How was... everything?" She said, casting about for the right word and giving up with an awkward hand gesture.

He smiled tiredly at her. "Good. I think..." He leaned his back against the railing and passed a hand over his face, a gesture he used when he was exhausted. She approached him and wrapped her arms around his torso, leaning her head against his chest where he encircled her and absentmindedly stroked her hair for a moment.

She pulled back just enough to peer into his face. "So the plan...?"

"Right. The plan." He dropped his arms and leaned back, watching her with a distant look. "We started sending out fliers all across the nations that in one month from now, I have declared an Agni Kai against Azula. She's to be in the court yard, away from the public, where we will finally decide the ultimate fate of the nation."

Katara watched him, worrying her lip. "Are you nervous?"

With a crooked wry grin, he looked at her, his eyes gleaming. "Of course I am. My sister is a devious master mind with an army of earth bending Dai Lee agents and a chi blocker."

"And you have an army of fire nation soldiers, the Avatar, a master water bender, a master earth bender, a master swordsman, a Kyoshi warrior, your Uncle is a master firebender and we all know what Azula is like." She had begun listing his allies on her fingers. "Plus, I'm sure if you're still unsure that's enough, there's the White Lotus and so many more allies we've met over the years."

Zuko enfolded her in his arms and rested his chin atop her head. "Thank you Katara. You always believe in me. Even when I don't believe in myself."

With her cheek pressed against his warm chest she replied. "Of course I believe in you. You've defeated her before. Twice!" She nuzzled him a moment. "Even if I was afraid for you last night, and I still am afraid for you, I know you can do this."

She felt him sigh into her hair. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

She leaned back to look him in the eye. "What are you going to do once you defeat her again?" She asked softly.

His muscles tightened and his jaw clenched. "Back in the caves, I couldn't destroy her. No matter what she's done, she's still family. And she was able to escape from the boiling rock... I guess I'll just have to keep her in the prison tower where my father is."

Katara nodded, agreeing with his solution. "We should get some sleep." She said, trying to distract him from the train of thought she could see going through his mind.

"I guess you're right."

They both piled into Zuko's bed as was now customary for the two of them. Zuko lay on his back staring at the canopy over his head and Katara rolled and nestled her head into the crook of his shoulder, lining her body up along his, startling a private smile from the fire lord. He wrapped his arm around her, keeping her tucked close and doused the torch light.

Hey, Sarahplainntall here! It took waaaay too long to get this posted! Please please please review! Thanks guys! Also, if you read it earlier, I should have fixed all the bugs that had weird code in the middle of the story.