AN: ummmm...please read my other fanfic 'Brotherly Love.' Before I get killed for it.
I said 2 cats before. We adopted another yesterday so that is revised to three. My usual lapcat is jeolous and I can't feel my legs because he won't move.
Before I knew that I could,
I was often confused and unsure in times of adversity.
Chapter 6: A Calming Breath
The Fire Nation Palace was aglow with the early morning sunlight, which made its dark burgundies into rich reds and funeral blacks into midnight blues. In one of the gardens, which 9 years ago had been made into a training ground as well, stood two fire-benders. They threw flames at each other, going through the forms with the ease of experience. The flames kept up for nearly an hour, but finally the smaller man of the two stepped back.
"I concede defeat. You win again, Fire Lord." The Fire Lord nodded, and let the man leave and continue with his duties. A servant came up to him with a smile, carrying a bowl of cool water, a clean towel, and a clean dark red shirt. She was new to the palace and was proud to be able to serve him directly.
Ozai splashed the water on his steaming skin and used the towel to clean and dry his chest and arms. She held her free hand out and took the towel from him. He took the shirt from her and laid it on his shoulder. "May I have some water to drink?"
She bowed. "Of course, Fire Lord."
"Thank you." She blushed a soft rose at his words and scuttled off. Before she had disappeared through the door however, a herald came up from the opposite side of the garden.
"My lord, the Lady Zhao wishes to speak with you." Ozai nodded, and a lovely lady strode into the garden. She looked rather young, but her eyes betrayed her age. Her spectacular white and gold gown was graced by the flowers Ozai had never let fade. The herald left.
The lady smiled at him, but then glanced around. They were surrounded by servants; they'd grown up being surrounded by servants, and they knew how to keep secrets from them. Every word they spoke had a hidden meaning, and they understood each other perfectly.
The servant girl who had left earlier for water returned with two water goblets, and Fire Lord Ozai smiled at her intelligence before finally turning to the lady with goblet in hand.
"Lady Zhao." Natalani.
"My lord." Ozai.
"You wished to speak with me?" What's troubling you?
"Yes, about my husband." Much.
Ozai slid his shirt on and she continued.
"Will Zhao be returning home anytime soon?" Will you be going to battle anytime soon?
"I'm not sure." I cannot promise I won't.
"I would like to see him again soon." Please don't leave me.
"I will do my best. Is there any particular reason why?"
"I am with child, and I would wish for my husband to be with me." Guess what? It's not his child.
"Congratulations. He will be pleased." Me too.
"I believe so as well." I'm glad you're glad.
"Heirs do not seem to be a problem for him." I miss Zuko.
"I understand." I really do.
A servant stepped up and spoke briefly with Lady Natalani. She nodded, and returned her gaze to Ozai. "I must leave you now." Ozai nodded.
"Will I see you tonight at the banquet?" After.
"If my lord commands me." Always.
With these final words, she slipped away. The servants were none the wiser.
"FIRE!"
Prince Zuko had his eyes fastened securely on the image of the bison above him. The fireball was aimed perfectly but the bison slipped out of the way at the last moment. He gritted his teeth in frustration. After a good night's rest and a lot of meditating, he'd managed to shove She-Wolf and the memories she triggered to the back of his mind.
The men finished reloading the catapult and awaited his word. It came and the fireball soared into the air, once again perfect.
Sokka yelped as the bison swerved again. "Hold on!" yelled the Avatar, Aang.
"Great, now he says hold on." Katara glared at him from her precarious perch by the supplies.
Sokka was holding on to the edge of the saddle with one hand and had the other on his prisoner.
Earlier that morning…
"Sokka, why did you capture her?" Sokka rolled his eyes and crossed his arms across his chest, glaring at his sister.
"For the last time, I DON'T KNOW! I just thought she could help us. I mean, I heard her call Zhao father."
"And as distrusting as you are of Zuko? Why do you trust her?"
"Cause she caught Zhao in a hog-monkey trap."
Laughter
Now Aang spoke up. "Well, girl or no, if you saw her talking to Zhao, then we've got to get going before he finds us." Mentally, he was thinking of the time he spent as Zhao's prisoner, the time he hadn't yet told Katara and Sokka about.
That's how they ended up being chased by Prince Zuko in the early morning.
Back to the present…
Another fireball sped past them and Appa swerved, nearly dumping them all into the ocean. Sokka renewed his grip around the girl's waist as Appa righted himself, and she chose this exact moment to wake up. Sokka expected a scream or something else hysterical, but she merely looked around her and sighed.
"You know, whoever you are, I really don't like heights. And please take your arm off me." Sokka complied. She pulled away from him, balancing on her knees, shifting her weight as Appa moved. Scooting carefully to the back of the saddle, she glanced down.
"Zuko." Sokka heard her breathe. A fireball flew up at him and he was astonished when she raised her hands. The fireball froze in midair, and then exploded harmlessly. Sokka stared at her.
"You're a fire-bender." She nodded. "Yes, boy, but I'm on your side." Sokka didn't have any other choice but to trust her…for the moment.
Zuko narrowed his eyes as he watched the remains of the fireball fade into ash before the boat. His men were stupefied, but only one thought radiated in his skull. She-Wolf.
"Hold your fire."
The men looked at him stupidly, but they withheld from reloading the catapult. Lieutenant Gi joined him at the prow.
"It's obvious, Lieutenant, now the She-Wolf is with them, that we won't get any further with fireballs."
"Sorry, sir, but who by fire is She-Wolf?" Zuko smiled slightly.
"She's a rogue fire-bender. Just continue following the Avatar. Let me know when he stops to rest." The lieutenant nodded. Zuko turned and went below deck to meditate.
Iroh joined him below deck, and watched him as he lit the meditation candles and relaxed, at least until he heard his nephew muttering something about betrayal.
"Who betrayed who?" Zuko looked up at his uncle's voice, but then continued what he was doing.
"She-Wolf betrayed me. I've been randomly meeting her over the past few weeks, and I came to think of her as a friend." The open-mindedness was killing him, but he was really in no mood to avoid the subject, knowing how persistent Iroh could be. "I really should've been expecting it. She told me she would be protecting the Avatar, but…"
"…You trusted her." Iroh finished for him. Zuko nodded, and then sat down in his meditation position, clearly wanting to end the conversation. But Iroh wouldn't drop it.
"This doesn't mean she's betrayed you."
"Why doesn't it? Everyone in my life has, why shouldn't she?"
"I haven't."
"You're my uncle."
Iroh paused briefly.
"Anzha hasn't."
Zuko didn't turn around at the mention of his best friend of 13 years, but he stiffened considerably.
"Yet."
Iroh sighed in defeat and started to walk out when Zuko's voice, all defenses dropped, stopped him. Apparently, Zuko was taking advantage of the moment in which his conscience didn't force him to shut up.
"Every day since I left the Fire Nation, I've thought of Anzha in some way. She-Wolf even reminds me of her. And everytime that her memory crosses my mind…I hope she's forgotten me."
Iroh's shock and surprise left him, for the first time in a long time, speechless, but Zuko continued.
"I know what you're thinking. We grew up together, how could she forget me? I don't know. But frankly," he hesitated, and when he finally continued, his voice was softer. "I think…no I know…I'm in love with Anzha. I love her with every breath in every way I know. And that's exactly why she should forget me. I mean, just look at me. I'm nowhere near good enough for her. The Prince of the Fire Nation was good enough, but not me. I can only bring her down."
The word 'down' came out forced, as if he was choking on the words. Iroh stared at him. Zukohad never complained about his scar, at least not in a physical way. This was the Zuko he knew, theZuko he loved,but...just like that, the Zuko we've come to know was back. During this little speech, he'd been hunching down, and now he straightened back up. "I've said too much."
"No." Iroh said. "And how do you know Anzha will betray you? I know she'll be waiting when you return with the Avatar."
"She shouldn't be." That was when the conversation ended.
When Aang noticed that Zuko had quit bombarding them, he guided Appa up into cloud cover and then backtracked behind Zuko's ship. They landed on an island they already passed, at Sokka's prisoner's advice. With each breath, Zuko drew further away from them. As they watched them go, the girl smiled triumphantly.
After jumping off Appa's head, Aang walked over to She-Wolf and held his hand out. "Hi, my name is Aang. And this is Sokka and Katara." She stared at his hand before taking it, wondering whether or not to trust him or use her alias.
She decided. "Hello Aang, Sokka, Katara." She said, nodding to each one in turn. "My name is Anzha."
"Anzha." Sokka repeated with a skeptical tone. Anzha looked at him and smiled.
"Yes, it means 'against the fates.'"
Aang smiled at her, and so did the girl named Katara. "It'll be nice," the Avatar said. "Having a fire-bender on our side." The other two nodded.
It was apparent that Anzha had much more experience in staying away from Zhao than they did, so after she picked up her bag and replaced her mask, to much wondering from the gang, they set off into the woods with her as the leader. It didn't take her long to find a cave for them to stay in, and the cave was essentially perfect. The entrance was hidden by numerous trees, and they could have a fire because it was filled with hot springs which emitted steam of their own. The smoke would go unnoticed.
Evening came quickly for the exhausted gang, but Anzha didn't sleep as soon as the others. Instead, when Aang and Katara's steady breathing filled the cave, she stood and walked out.
As she expected, Sokka stopped her barely three steps out of the cave.
"Where do you think you're going?" She rolled her eyes.
"I'm going to talk to Iroh."
"Who?"
"Zuko's uncle."
"No way!" Sokka shouted.
"Quiet!" Anzha hissed. "You don't want to wake Aang and Katara."
Sokka moved incredibly quickly to Anzha and grabbed her arm.
"You're not going to talk to Iroh; you're going to that bastard Zuko! You're going to betray Aang to him! Once a fire-bender always a fire-bender!"
She spun lithely and got up in his face, and Sokka felt himself cowering away from her, even though he was three inches taller.
"What you bend has nothing to do with your beliefs! Zuko's search for the Avatar goes deeper than you know and if you ever say anything bad against him again I will personally kill you."
"Swear to me you aren't going to talk to Zuko."
"I swear I won't talk to Zuko tonight."
"All…wait, Swear you won't talk to him ever!"
Anzha's anger flared.
"I won't swear that."
"Why not? Maybe you are a spy and you're just biding your time to take us back to your precious prince!"
Staring into Sokka's eyes, Anzha growled inhumanly before bringing her free arm down on Sokka's hand. He yelped in pain and let her go; she did not hesitate anymore.
She flew through the trees, below them and through their branches, splashing through streams and over them until she reached the ocean. Zuko's ship wasn't far from shore, having given up the chase when they lost sight of the Avatar. A soft light was glowing on deck, and even from here, she could make out Iroh attempting to play Pi-Sho with himself. Moving very slowly, shemade sureher maskwas secure, she slipped out into the water, swimming with perfect ease.
Upon reaching the ship, she pulled herself out of the water and up onto the deck, but the retired general was neither blind nor deaf.
"Who's there?" he called, more warning in his voice than fear. If fear could be applied to this brave man.
"It's just me." She called softly and moved into the ring of light surrounding the general. He looked her over thoroughly before nodding.
"You must be She-Wolf. Please, come and sit with me." She complied.
"Apparently Zuko has mentioned me." Iroh nodded. She glanced over the game and smiled. "Difficult to play against yourself General?" He nodded again.
"It's difficult to create a challenge when you know exactly what your opponent is going to do." She smiled gently and cleared the board.
"Then perhaps you should play me." Iroh looked positively delighted.
"Would you like some tea young miss? It's Ginseng."
"I'd love some dear General."
Iroh's smile grew wider, and he reheated the tea by his side with a simple flame. He then produced a second cup from somewhere and filled both cups. After she had taken an experimental sip, the game was on.
20 minutes later, she had won. Iroh looked desperately around the board, unwilling to admit defeat.
"Oh come on, Uncle Iroh, you're acting the same way as you did the last time I beat you."
His head jerked up from the board and stared at her in confusion. She smiled, set her tea down, and took off her mask. Iroh looked at her in first shock, and then pure joy. In a moment of amazing strength, he lifted her right out of her seat in a bone-crunching embrace.
"Anzha!" he cried ecstatically and she laughed, lifted right off her feet. "I've missed you dear child." She threw her arms around his neck.
"I've missed you more, Uncle." He laughed.
"What brings you to these waters?"
She sighed, business so quick to ruin a sweet reunion.
"Zuko. I have a question, Uncle, how did he become what he is now? He wasn't like this before, so….angry." Iroh sighed and settled back down into his seat.
"Zuko was a carefree child, boy, and then teenager. He grew up the way he should have, until that fateful day. In an instant, Ozai's expectations of Zuko changed, and Zuko changed desperately to meet them. In doing so, he saw the need to push everyone else away from him, so as to have no connections to his past life. He's always had a temper, but you kept in under control. Many times you kept him from blastingZula into another dimesion." They both smiled at memories, but both smiles faded fast, and Iroh said what he'd feared to admit for two years.
"Anzha, I fear that the child we both knew and loved is dead."
Anzha began pacing a slow circle around the deck.
"No. He's not dead, just buried deep beneath pain and doubts. We can save him. I have a plan."
"What is it?"
"Zuko must come to terms." She continued at Iroh's puzzled look. "It's different for me and him because, somehow, we tapped the Source. We have a direct connection to it, even more so through meditation. You remember what the elder said." Iroh nodded and she went on.
"The Source is an extension of its host, a mirror almost. The personality of Zuko's Source is who he truly is. For him to come to terms means that he must face his Source….and choose who he wants to be. We have to prod him in the right direction."
Iroh didn't understand at all, but he'd trust Anzha with his life, and in this case, his nephew's. They talked together for a little while longer, and then Anzha left.
A long awaited chapter for some...but simply more mystery...some answers soon...Please Review...