Honor

Zuko fought back a sigh as Katara kicked and yelled and hit him in the back while he carried her over his shoulder down below deck.

"Put me down!" Katara demanded, pausing briefly in her squirming.

"You need to rest!" Zuko replied shortly, only to have Katara start to kick and hit him more.

"I'm FINE!" Zuko narrowed his eyes and dropped her down on her behind.

"Alright. If you say so." He snapped while she stood up. She shot him a glare as she turned away from him. At that exact moment a large wave hit the ship, making the ship rock and causing Katara to lose her balance.

- - - - -

"I can't call you Ceres in public." Ceres nodded in agreement with Admiral Zhao.

"Agreed. No one in their right mind would name their child Ceres after my short reign over the world." Ceres closed her eyes as she thought. She would need a new name. One that wouldn't inspire fear into whoever heard it. That was something she would have difficulty giving up. She had worked so hard to make sure her name made grown men shiver in fear. "You may call me . . . . Lilith." Zhao nodded.

"Very well." Zhao eyed her clothes wearily. "We're going into port soon to restock. You'll have to get new clothes." Ceres stared at him with an annoyed expression.

"What's wrong with my clothes?"

- - - - -

Katara closed her eyes and braced herself for the hard floor but it never came. Instead she felt something warm and soft break her fall. Opening her eyes she looked up and saw Prince Zuko holding her. Gently he pushed her up so that she would stand on her own. An awkward silence filled the air as Katara stared at Zuko. Why would he do that? Maybe he was just being kind? But he was Prince Zuko. He was the man who had hunted her best friend down like a wild animal. He was . . . . a complete and total mystery. Everything he had done lately contradicted every thought she had about him.

". . . thank you." Katara whispered quietly, nervous on how he would react. Would he laugh at her? Would he brush it off? Or would he accept it? There were so many different possibilities of how he would react. And she had no clue as to which course of action he would take. However, before he had a chance to reply, Iroh came bursting into the hallway, soaking wet. He looked at the two with a grin.

"Hello! Miss. Katara, you did a wonderful job with help us!" Iroh beamed. Iroh looked over Katara quickly. "Oh dear, you should take a shower and change before you catch cold. You should do the same, Prince Zuko." Katara turned bright red as a thought hit her. She turned and glared at Zuko.

"You are not going to be in the room! With water around me I'll be just fine!" Zuko blinked a few times before realizing what she meant. Turning beat red Zuko looked away.

"I won't be in the room!" He snapped, still red. Iroh glared at the two.

"Miss. Katara, you are in extreme danger. You simply cannot refuse protection merely because it is awkward. Besides, you'll be using Zuko and my personal bathroom. There's a curtain so don't be so worried!" Zuko and Katara looked away from each other, a blush adorning both of their cheeks. The prince's uncle smiled slyly at the two. "Unless, of course, you want to save time and take a shower-" Iroh stepped to the side, dodging a fireball.

"UNCLE!"

"What?"

- - - - -

Ceres glanced around at all the people as she walked stepped out onto solid land. Currently she had red cloak draped over her shoulders, so as not to attract attention. She glanced at Zhao.

"You will be accompanied by two soldiers, Ms. Lilith. You should get new clothes, after all, you lost your other ones at sea." Ceres nodded before quickly moving away from Zhao. The man annoyed her. However, she did make a deal with him. And her word was her bond. But that didn't man she wouldn't kill him after their deal was over, now would it? She glanced over her shoulder at the two guards sent with her. With a roll of her eyes as looked head and searched for a clothing shop. She would find proper clothes and then she would hunt down Katara.

- - - - -

Iroh stroked his beard as Katara sipped her tea. Luckily, she didn't need to stay in the room while Zuko showered. She just had to stay with Iroh while that happened.

"Try to understand my nephew, he is a complicated young man." Katara looked up from her tea.

"He wanted to capture Aang and drag him back to the Fire Nation. How complicated is that?"

"True. But his reasons are different than many think." The waterbender stared down at her tea.

"When he captured me, he said something about restoring his honor. How can taking away the one hope the world has bring honor!" Katara demanded harshly, but Iroh brushed the harsh tone aside.

"His father was the one that decided that, when he took away Prince Zuko's honor."

"What?" Whispered Katara in disbelief. She didn't understand. Why would a father take away his son's honor? It didn't make since. Not when the Fire Nation held honor in such high respect.

"Because of that, Prince Zuko has . . . . . mature beyond his years. Pain does that to a person." Iroh took a sip of tea while Katara's eyes filled with curiosity.

"Pain?" Nodding, Iroh put down his tea.

"It was Prince Zuko's father, Fire Lord Ozai, who gave my nephew his scar." With her eyes widening, Katara asked Iroh another question.

"What did Zuko do?" She needed to know. There had to be a reason. Fathers were loving, caring. No father would just give their son a scar! There had to be a reason. Even if he was Fire Lord, even if he was destroying the world with his stupid war, he wouldn't scar his own son for no reason. That's not what fathers do. They just don't do those kind of things. They worried about their children. They would never let harm befall their child, no matter who they were. It shouldn't matter what nation they were from. Weren't all fathers the same?

"My nephew spoke out against sacrificing an entire platoon. He tried to save the platoon, saying that they were loyal to the Fire Nation and we could not betray their trust. He was right, but his father did not care." Iroh sighed wearily and shook his head. He looked back up at Katara and smiled softly. "Do not pity Prince Zuko. He doesn't want it. He had too much pride for that." Iroh took another sip of his tea.

". . . . what kind of father would do that?" Katara shook her head in disbelief.

"I have always thought that Prince Zuko should have been my son. That way he would have had a childhood. But what's done is done. We can never change that. No matter how hard we try. So there's no use mopping around because of it."

"Mopping around because of what?" Iroh and Katara turned as saw Zuko enter the room in a dark red sleeveless button up shirt and baggy black pants.

"Oh, Katara was just feeling bad because of Ceres." Zuko nodded and turned to Katara.

"It would be best if you rest." Katara nodded, her exhaustion having finally caught up with her. Rising to her feet, Katara followed Zuko to his room.

- - - - -

HI! Thanks for making all the way down here. Well, as you may or may not have figured out, the writer's block got its second wind. Weeps bitterly in corner and sobs uncontrollably Why! Why oh why does it have to attack me so vigorously! It's not fair! Notices people staring Err . . . . yeah. Anyways, please review!