Chapter 6
Looking around Katara was confused about her surroundings. Taking a second to actually wake up she found herself in the fire nation, and once again in the arms of Zuko. It wasn't a really surprise but it still shocked her to find out that he had such a tight grip on her. She some how got out of his arms with only Zuko muttering something about her. Getting up she decided to walk around the castle finding out what was going on and where thing was. She walked down the hall figuring it was just early morning because of the way the sun shown through the eastern windows. She found herself bobbing her head to some type of music that was off in the distance. A voice soon followed the music, some one was actually singing.
"I'm going to be a mighty king…" was what the voice was singing.
Opening the door to find Ruko dancing around his room and singing. She giggled at the way his voice sounded like a ten year old just learning the words to his favorite song for the first time. Katara walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder causing him to stop and look at the girl.
"You scared me. You should have knocked." Ruko laughed cueing the band to stop playing and leave.
"Sorry I didn't want to interrupt you." She looked around his room and saw it was much bigger than hers or Zuko's rooms. "You've got a great voice."
Ruko blushed slightly but shook off the feeling. He nodded his thanks and sat on his bed inviting Katara to do the same. "You're voice probably sounds like the birds." She laughed at this saying. She didn't sing much but she did know that Sokka said it sounded like a dying fish.
Looking down to her hands in her lap she blushed. Ruko leaned over and sniffed her hair. It smelt like wild berries and the great outdoors. He leaned in further to kiss her neck almost getting her completely under his control. Katara backed up quickly causing the prince to fall forward and land where she was once sitting.
"What were you doing?"
"Huh trying to kiss my sweet." He laughed at the thought of kissing her. Shrugging the movement off he looked at her. "Kissing you last night was the best thing that's ever happened to me."
Katara backed up to his closest she found herself pinned to it with no chance of escaping. Ruko was coming in for another kiss when the door swung open causing both teens to snap their heads towards their intruder. She was grateful when she saw it to be Iroh. Pushing away from the teen she bowed towards the man and mouthed 'thank you.'
"Glad to see you up and about today." Iroh said turning towards Ruko. "Ember said you're the person to sleep in late."
"Um… Uncle I was kind of busy…"
"Yes you were about to join me your sister and your brother for a good breakfast. I was on my to wake up Zuko now." Iroh said dragging the two teens out. "Katara will you go do that for me?"
Katara nodded running towards her room. She didn't even look back, she was just too grateful that Iroh had come and saved her from that perverted freak. Looking ahead she found Zuko walking out of their room yawning. Seeing what he was wearing she skidded to a stop.
"Katara good morning." Zuko yawned again. Katara began to blush a crimson color. Looking at her Zuko was confused until he saw that he was still in his red silk boxers.
"You've got a nice body." Katara covered her mouth after what she had just said. That was not helping with what Zuko did last night well neither was him standing in front of her half naked but she was going to handle the emotional thing first.
Zuko chuckled to himself walking past the girl patting her on the head. He could tell that she was serious when she said that too. But there was something in her eyes that told her that she was having a mental struggle too. Maybe she lied about her age and is only turning fifteen.
"Katara when's your birthday?" Zuko asked unexpectedly.
She was shocked at the question. "June twelfth." She replied. "I'll be turning sixteen next month."
"Sixteen or fifteen?" Zuko asked, "I've only been chasing the Avatar for two months. You were fourteen just last month what happened?"
"Ok I'm turning fifteen." She put her hands on her hips. "Happy?"
"Very, tell my uncle I'll be down for breakfast after I pee. I've really got to go." Zuko smiled running off towards the bathroom leaving Katara to deal that comment.
"Nice to know!" She yelled after him.
With Aang
Aang looked up at Crystal and tried to teach him the basic. Much to his luck and her well not so luck he excelled at the basic of techniques. She moved on quickly to harder stuff and Aang mastered that as well. Finally Crystal got frustrated and threw a rock at Aang's head and stormed off leaving him to deal with it.
Sokka laughed when she came into the clearing. "He was like that with water bending too. Pissed Katara off to great lengths."
Crystal fell to the ground. Right then a girl with long brown hair with black highlights and crystal blue eyes popped up. "So what are you doing with your boyfriend Crystal?" She asked.
Crystal sighed, "Go jump off a cliff Nyla."
Nyla laughed. "I already did that and used my earth bending to climb back up." She said jumping around. "Hey you're not trying to have…" Crystal covered Nyla's mouth quickly before she had a chance to finish.
"Damn you child don't you know when to leave me alone?" She asked. Bringing up a dagger mad from the earth she held it to Nyla's arm and scrapped it so it was slightly bleeding. "Go get this fixed. After that I want you to go find a boyfriend."
Nyla nodded and ran off after yelling, "Damn you to hell and back I hope the fire nation spies around here kill you off slowly and painfully."
After the tweleve year old was gone Crystal screamed throwing a rock at a nearby tree. "She is so fucking annoying!" She screamed. "I wanna know Granny can put up with her."
"The same way Katara can put up with Aang." Sokka shrugged scooting closer to Crystal. "Anyway don't let her get you down. She's just an annoying little…" Sokka never got to finish his sentence because Crystal kissed him passionately.
Aang smiled as we watched the two make out. He was glad that Sokka found a girl to satisfy those lonely nights. Turning to the tree he wished that Katara were there so he could talk to her. After all, the girl was easy to talk to and he could tell her anything. Maybe he liked Katara. Shaking his head of that thought he brought up a little rock and threw it at the couple. Looking up they saw Aang and ran off in a different direction.
With Zuko
Zuko sighed as he locked the bathroom door behind him. Katara was lying to everyone. He slid up against the door and sighed again. He wouldn't allow Katara to continue to play with his emotions like she was doing. He wasn't a toy, someone or something to be played with. She was going to get her fair treatment sooner or later and he was going to make sure of it. After using the bathroom he made his way downstairs thinking about how he would get revenge on Katara so quickly.
"Maybe I should capture the Avatar then kill him in front of her eyes." Zuko shook his head as he walked into the dinning hall. "That's too much."
"You wanna know what else is baby brother?" Ember said interrupting Zuko's thoughts. "You standing in your boxers."
Ruko smiled and put his arm around Katara drawing her closer to him. Katara wasn't as comfortable as she would have been other wise so she scooted away trying her hardest not to look at Zuko and check him out. It was a hard task but she succeed. Things were different between them now and both of them knew it. Listening to the raindrops just outside the window she sighed from the moment of silent between the family and her.
Zuko looked at Katara and sighed. Maybe the girl was just confused about her feelings about the two princes. After all Zuko really hadn't been a real Prince Charming. Ruko on the other hand just wanted her to get the kingdom for himself. And have the war go in his favor. Zuko debated with himself whether or not to tell Katara about this plan. Knowing that it was best to keep it a secret from her for a little while longer was going to be the best thing for a while.
"Zuko if you have a staring problem please stare at the wall or your banana or something else other than Katara!" Ember yelled. "We all know about your sexual dreams about her."
Katara tilted her head in a confused way and turned her head and blushed a crimson red. Zuko shook his head and narrowed his eyes. He knew that it was pointless to even bother with Ember and her false comments because… well it was just pointless.
"Go to hell and stay there." Zuko snapped poking at his pancake with his fork.
"I'll be bringing you with me pervert." She snapped back.
Zuko found himself to his feet suddenly and laughed, "I thought you'd have a better comeback after all these years. You're still using the same damn lines. Two years banished to this castle should have done you some good. But I guess all you can focus about is keeping the royal family blood pure thus meaning bedding your own brother." He really didn't know what had come over him. He knew that running of the mouth sometimes ended in death but they were family so talk like this was normal among them.
"Oh I'm sorry for breathing. After all at least I have a sex life. You're on a ship for two years with a bunch of male guards and not a single female in sight until she…" Ember pointed to Katara. "Dropped out of the sky and landed on your ship. Doesn't that tell you what's been going on in your bedchambers at night?" Ember was finally on her feet. "I'm surprised you even know who to fire bend."
The insults just didn't stop coming. A family fight usually never lasted longer than what seemed like five minutes but Ember and Zuko just kept the insults coming. Katara watched with interest and changed the direction of her head every time one of them spoke. Ruko finally got tired of the two yelling at each other so he stepped in trying to be peacemaker.
"You two stop!" He yelled getting the two to stop for a short minute. "Can't you see there is a lady in front of us?" He pointed to Katara and Ember.
Zuko smirked and replied with, "I see no ladies in here. After all you might just want them to be your wife and bare your children."
Ruko yelled, "I'm sick of hearing your arrogant talk."
"You know it might not be so arrogant if it wasn't true." Zuko laughed all three of them were suddenly yelling at each other accusing each other of something different.
Iroh sipped tea and felt the room heat up. Each teen was getting angry and with their powers a fire might actually break out and inflame the whole city if they were not careful. Giving the fight a little longer Iroh finally stood up and climbed onto the table.
"Whether or not you guys are family we are in the presences of a water tribe member." Iroh put his hands up to stop the teens from screaming. "Now if you three would be so kind to return to your breakfast in peace I'd be grateful. Oh and I like another cup of Ginseng tea." He shortly returned to his seat and Katara watched in amazement as each of the three fire benders returned to theirs as well.
The rest of the morning was silent except from Iroh who would occasionally tell a joke to Katara making her laugh and getting stares from the three royal children. She really didn't mind it was like being part of a family that she hadn't felt apart of for quite sometime. The war from what she heard was getting worse and she was getting worried about Sokka and Aang. Were they even coming to save her any more or was it just a hopeless cause?
Both Zuko and Ruko turned their heads to see Katara sniffle. A single tear ran down her face. She couldn't allow either prince to see her cry like that so she wiped her tear and gave them a fake cheesy smile. Zuko didn't fall for that, but Ruko did. After excusing herself from the room she walked out and down the hall hoping that Aang and Sokka were all right. Zuko followed the girl closely but stopped when he heard his two older siblings voice just outside the kitchen doors. They were discussing their plan about getting the kingdom for themselves.
"I've got to get Katara in bed with me before the end of this week. After that she'll fall for me heart and soul." Ruko whispered.
Ember shook her head. "Then we must find a way to get our dear old uncle and brother out of the city before then. He's only getting in the way."
"I know but the question is how?"
"Easy we tell him a lie."
"Ember do you really think that it will work?"
"Of course it will, Ruko." She replied. "After getting him out. You'll have the girl to yourself, drug her of course, and then it's going to be a smooth night in bed and neither Zuko or Katara will realize what happened until it's too late."
Zuko shook his head. He heard them talking before but this time their plan was all thought out. No the question is, should he tell Katara or not. Not giving himself time to answer he ran down the hall and into his room. Locking the door behind him, or so he thought, he sighed. There was only one thing that got him calm when trying to make a big decision, besides meditating, and that was singing. He normally didn't do that often but he's sung twice in his life. After his mother's death and before his exile, searching for the right song that he had memorized over the years was harder than it seemed. He didn't consider himself a good singer but sung just for himself.
Katara was walking by when she heard Zuko talking to himself. At least she thought he was talking to himself. Slowly opening his door she watched him stand still singing to himself just letting his feelings flow out into the song. It was different from most voices she heard now a day most seemed fake and like someone just recorded another's voice. But Zuko's seemed true that it was actually his. After he finished she only felt that it was appropriate that he deserved applause. Zuko smiled sheepishly and decided it was best to tell her.
"Katara, I over heard Ruko talking with Ember earlier after you left." Zuko sighed trying to think how to break this to her.
"And what did they say?"
"Long story short they're using you as a play thing. Only to have sex and get Ruko a kingdom for himself from my father." Zuko sighed again. "He's seventeen years old, my mother had created a law that if you slept with your one true love you can become the next fire lord."
What neither of the teens knew was that Ruko was standing outside the door, he was just happening to pass by when he heard Zuko's confession.
"And what about you?" Katara asked. "Why are you telling me this?"
Zuko opened his mouth to answer but Ruko interrupted his comment. "Yeah you're right Zukki, I'm surprised. You've improved the art of eavesdropping."
"Please Ruko tell me that he's lying." Katara begged turning to him.
Ruko laughed. "Ha I wish no wait you wish." He laughed again. "You see Katara women are only good for one thing and that's sex and housework. Other than that they're useless."
"You monster."
"Nah my brother is." Ruko smiled snapping his fingers. About six or seven guards surrounded the young prince. "Brother you should have stayed on that little boat of yours."
"Why's that?" Zuko asked stepping in front of Katara as if an effort to protect her.
"Because at sunrise you die." Ruko narrowed his eyes. "You're going to suffer the same fate as our mother. Off with his head!"
K15: Ok that was my big idea for this chapter. I worked on it all by myself. I also gave Aang a little girlfriend... if they ever meet. I hoping to get Aang, Sokka, Nyla, and Crystal in a full chapter by themselves. Since I used my big idea for the chapter/story I'm still open to ideas. I thank everyone greatly. Later.K15.