AN: Romance, romance, more romance, and the impossible happens to Iroh. Ladeda...

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Before I knew that I could,
I would tremble in the face of opportunity.

Chapter 8: Iroh's Plan

Zuko was snapped from his meditation by an inhuman screech that echoed up and down the halls. It was repeated, this time closer. Lieutenant Gi burst into his room and looked surprised to see him wide awake. "You don't sleep much do you Prince Zuko?"

"Hardly. Now what the hell is going on out there?"

"General Iroh is running around the ship, apparently disturbed. He's also in his underwear."

Zuko looked at the lieutenant strangely, almost disbelieving, then got up and followed him out into the hall. Iroh immediately ran past.

"UNCLE!" Iroh froze and turned around, regarding his nephew sheepishly. Nearly half the crew was in the hallway, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Uncle, what is wrong?"

Iroh looked down awkwardly at the floor, as if unable to say exactly what he was thinking.

"Just tell me."

Iroh sighed.

"Well, you see, I…I am…I seem to be…arg…I'm out of tea."

For a moment there was complete silence. Then, Zuko's frown turned into a smirk…then a grin…and then Zuko covered his face in his hands as amusement turned to uncontrolled mirth. The sailors stared in shock as Prince Zuko…began to laugh.

Abandoning his composure, Zuko wrapped his arms around his waist, doubled over from laughter. Soon, his crew joined in his mirth. Only Iroh wasn't sharing in the hilarity. Zuko laughed until tears streamed from his eyes, and he fell to his knees, one hand on the wall for support. When he could breathe again, he straightened up and faced his uncle.

"Alright, uncle, we'll stop at the nearest port and get you some more tea."

To Zuko's great surprise, Iroh rushed over and hugged him, lifting him clear off his feet. When he put Zuko down, he immediately wrung the boy's hand, leaving Zuko not only weak from mirth but shocked. Iroh then stood up straight, smiling.

"Shall I inform the helmsman of our change of course?" Zuko grinned.

"Sure, but please put some clothes on first."

Iroh looked down and strangely enough, he blushed. Then, he turned and went to his room, muttering something about getting dressed. Zuko was paying more attention to the note Iroh had left in his hand.

"Lieutenant, if you would be so kind as to tell the helmsman to head for the nearest market, I'm going to take my own advice and get dressed."

Lieutenant Gi nodded. "Of course Prince Zuko."

Zuko returned to his room and immediately opened the note. He instantly noticed that the handwriting was not his uncle's short jerky scratch. Instead, each character was easy and flowing.

My dearest prince,

I deeply regret the fact that you feel as if I betrayed you. The truth is far from that. I am forever your teammate, Avatar or no, but I have always been against the war, and I promised you a long time ago that I would protect the Avatar, even if I had to protect him from you.

Tonight, I will meet you in the woods near the port where you will stop. Outlined below are directions to the exact spot.

Tonight, the questions you expressed before will be answered.

Forever Yours,

She-Wolf

Zuko glared at the scrap of paper, trying to decide whether he would go or not. In the end, curiosity got the better of him. They docked in a small market, and Iroh got his tea. Much to the delight of the crew, Zuko announced that they would stay in port overnight, and they were on leave until afternoon the next day. The crew happily invaded the town's taverns and inns. That night, Zuko slipped away from the town, dressed as the Blue Spirit.

Anzha had a hard time getting away from Sokka again, for she was disinclined to lie to him, and as soon as she told him she was meeting Zuko, he'd attempted to tie her up. 'Attempted' being the key word. After much persistence from her, and Aang and Katara's pledge of trust, she'd managed to get away. As she tied her mask in place at the ocean's edge, she wasn't surprised to see Zuko's ship in harbor. Iroh's plan had worked perfectly then.
In the sketch at the bottom of She-Wolf's note was a stream, so Zuko figured if he followed the stream he'd find the place, and he did. It was a huge clearing, a few large trees dotting over its surface. Long silky grass covered whatshould've been thick mud, but wasn't. Determined not to be surprised by She-Wolf again, he hid in the uppermost branches of a large maple, but he was still low enough to see the clearing well.

He hadn't waited long when She-Wolf came strolling into the meadow. She glanced around, and seeing he wasn't there yet, she moved to the stream and sat down. Zuko chose this moment to drop out of the tree. She looked up, surprised, and smiled at him as she stood, brushing imaginary dust from her pants.

"I got your note."

"I'm glad. I've been looking forward to seeing you."

Zuko snorted in disbelief.

"It was only the other day you helped the Avatar escape me."

"I already told you I would protect him…"

"Even if it meant protecting him from me. I know. I read it."

She smiled, but Zuko's frown deepened and he removed his mask.

"Now, you said you'd answer my questions."

She looked at him vaguely for a moment, but then walked over to him, purpose in every stride. Before he could react, she'd grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it to the side, revealing his right shoulder, and a thin scar. She traced the scar with a gentle finger.

"You got that from a Dao broadsword, when you were eleven, during training."

Zuko hissed. "One, how do you know that? Two, that doesn't answer anything. Three, what are the answers?"

She frowned and met his gaze. "I'll answer all three of those with one statement. I gave you that scar." His jaw dropped and he took several steps back.

"That's not…possible."

"It isn't Zuko?"

She never moved, and after a minute or two, he returned to her. With a shaking hand, he reached up…and took off her mask and he beheld a face he'd been sure a moment before he'd never seen before.

The mask slipped from his hand as he backed away from her desperately. The past events came back in a blink. He'd scorched her, slapped her, cursed her name and all she did.

Turning his back to her, he fought the emotions welling up within him. Fear, pain, desperation, and heartbreak, this things made him weak. He fought desperately to replace them with something he could relate to. Anger and hate.

Suddenly, she was before him, and a stinging red palm print formed on his cheek. Her eyes met his, and her voice penetrated the trance of shock he was in.

"Cry all you want but don't you dare make yourself angry."

"I…"

"I know you Zuko. I know what you are really like. Don't you dare try to fool me."

For a moment they were silent, and he gazed into her eyes.

"Anzha, Anzha why? Why did you leave the Fire Nation?"

He shook his head, trying to blink away the tears suddenly threatening.

"You could have had anyone. You could have had everything you could ever want. You should've forgotten me! How could you stand by me? Me! A dishonored banished prince and you were the daughter of a man with high military status! You could've had anything you wanted."

Here his voice broke and he tried to pull away from her, but she moved with him, cupping his face in one hand, clasping his hand with her other.

"Zuko, my spirit, I left to find you. I didn't want just anyone. I didn't have anything that I wanted there, and I could never forget you. Believe me, I tried. I stood by you because it was the only place I felt strong. You will never be dishonored, and not everyone in the Fire Nation will send you away. I have no father. And, anything I wanted? Ha."

Her hazel eyes glistened with unshed tears as she held him close. "Everything I could ever want is right here in front of me."

Sokka had followed Anzha when she left the camp. Despite everything, he was sure she was a spy for Zuko, and would tell Zuko everything about Aang and where they were. When she got to the clearing, he was much surprised. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but they didn't seem to be talking about Aang. He was nothing short of shocked when Anzha let Zuko take off her mask. Then Zuko tried to run away from her, but she stopped him, she slapped him, and then more talking.
"Anzha…why?"

"Is that all you can say? Why? Well, frankly, I don't know why. And it kills me to know that Zula was right." Zuko glanced down, smiling.

"Remember that day, just after your thirteenth birthday? The one where we…"

A boy and girl were sitting alone on a grassy hill. The boy turned to the girl.

"I wonder what kissing is like."

Their eyes met and the girl returned his smile.

"I'm game."

Slowly, their lips met. The girl looked up when they parted and said…

"I love you Zuko."

He smiled.

"In what way?"

"In whatever way you want me to."

Anzha traced his scar with a gentle hand, and he slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her nearer to him. They were close enough to steal each other's breath.

Zuko wrapped his free arm under her arm and around her shoulders; he pulled her up to him and pressed his lips to hers. She moaned softly and wrapped her arms around his neck, her toes barely touching the ground. She was totally and completely his. His tongue brushed over her lips and she accepted his invitation. Moments passed, and they parted impossibly slowly.

Sokka looked on with a disgusted feeling, disgusted…at himself. He should've known. After they kissed, they went and sat by the stream. They talked, reminisced, and Anzha often playfully splashed Zuko. He'd never seen Zuko smile so much. It made Anzha's story much more believable.

Suddenly, it looked like they were arguing over something. Anzha pinned Zuko down, her eyes telling him she was right. He kissed her and she shut up. They rolled, and then Zuko was on top of her, kissing her. Sokka turned and ran.

A crashing sound startled them both and Zuko was off her and up in an instant. They both stared in the direction the sound had come from. It could've just been an animal, but neither of them was willing to risk it. They came to the silent decision that their meeting was over.

Zuko grabbed his mask and Anzha's, handing hers to her. She came to his open arms readily and he held her close, savoring the moment.

"Anzha?"

A muffled 'mphf' came from where she'd buried her face in his chest.

"Thank you for not forgetting me."

She looked up and they kissed once more. Zuko then slipped away from the clearing, tying his mask into place as he went. Anzha stared at the place where he'd disappeared for a moment then turned towards camp.

Back at the ship
Zuko walked back onto the ship after removing his mask, not really caring who saw him now. Iroh was sitting on the deck playing his sungi horn. He'd decided to stay on the ship with Zuko when all the rest of the men deserted to the town. The darkness was held at bay by several lanterns and Iroh stopped playing when Zuko came up.

"Where've you been Zuko?"

"Around." Iroh accepted this answer and started playing again. Instead of going below, Zuko sank into a chair next to his uncle, who was surprised by this action.

"Uncle, were you really out of tea this morning?"

"Why, yes, Zuko? Why do you ask?"

"No reason….why'd you stop playing?"

Iroh smiled, and continued the soft melodic song. Zuko closed his eyes and let his head fall back. His heart wouldn't stop fluttering and the music helped.

Back at camp
"Did your meeting go well?"

Anzha glared at Sokka, who was sitting near the fire looking smug.

"Better than I planned."

"Really? Why are you back so soon?" Not knowing it had been Sokka who had spied on them, Anzha didn't get the meaning behind the statement.

"Why not?" She then pulled out her blanket, crawled beneath, and was asleep instantly.

Sokka frowned, wondering how long Anzha would be able to play on the fence.

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