North Pole
Ceres paced the room she had Zhao had struck the bargain in, the room she attacked him in after he interrogated her about her powers. It angered her that Admiral Zhao had interrupted her summoning. After a heated argument, she was dragged into this room and had to wait for Zhao. Had she not been undercover as a noble woman, she would have fought back. But alas, she was escorted to this room. And the thought of any human trying to control her, trying to order her around, infuriated her. She spun around, ready to unleash her fury when she heard the door crack open. However, she could not because Zhao had two soldiers with him.
"Lady Lilith, perhaps you do not realize it, but you are on a Fire Nation battleship. With firebenders all over. The Fire Nation is the most powerful of all the nations. And we are in a war. We do not have the time to accommodate your every need." Zhao was sumg as he told her this. He knew she could not retaliate unless she was to blow her cover. Glowering at him, Ceres replied with an icy tone.
"Admiral Zhao, perhaps you do not realize it, but I am not one to be ordered around. You have not right to do so. I have earned everything I have. And I have not worked so hard as to be ordered around by a mere man." Ceres crossed her arms. "Furthermore, I do not insult people of a higher status, as you have so rudely done. Perhaps you would like the Fire Lord to hear of all that has happened on this ship?" Zhao narrowed his eyes.
"Lady Lilith, you are a passenger. Remember who you are."
"And I suggest, Admiral Zhao, you would do well to remember who I am." Zhao smirked at her.
"Once again, Lady Lilith, you forget where we are. Normally I would explain things further to you, but I have to have a meeting soon. You may go." Ceres shut her eyes and clenched her fist. She took a deep breath and glared at Zhao as other officers came into the room.
"This discussion is not over." She hissed before storming out of the room.
- - - - -
". . . . Zuko?" The two benders were in bed. Zuko was on his side, facing away from Katara and the waterbender was on her back, staring up at the ceiling.
"Hmm?" He muttered obviously on the verge of sleep but not quiet there yet. Zuko pulled the covers around him tighter, in an effort to ward off consciousness.
". . . . thank you." The prince reluctantly opened his eyes and turned to look at Katara.
"For what?" His mind was not properly functioning at the moment and he couldn't figure out what she meant.
". . . for last night." Several minutes passed before it finally clicked in his head.
". . . you're . . . welcome." Several minutes passed before Katara broke the silence that loomed over them.
". . . . I'm sorry." Even thought she couldn't see him, she knew he shot her a curious look. By now Zuko had given up on sleep for the moment, seeing as she wanted to talk about a few things.
"About what?" While he body demanded sleep, his curiosity was getting the best of him.
". . . . about bringing up your scar . . . ."
"It's alright." Zuko watched Katara's outline as she sat up and turned to him.
"No. I shouldn't have been so-" The prince cut her off.
"Don't." He sat up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. Leave it be."
". . . if . . . if you're sure."
". . . . I'm sure." Zuko released her shoulder and was about to lay down but her voice stopped him.
"Zuko . . ." He fought back a sigh. He was too tired to get in another fight.
"Yes?"
"I'm scared . . . ." Once more his mind came back to how his mother would treat him when he was scared. He never would say he was scared, but she would know. Gently and slowly, so as not to scare her, Zuko pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her. Katara was bright red from his actions. But even though her mind screamed at her to pull away, to tell him to release her, she allowed him to hold her. She didn't know why. All she knew was that she felt safe.
- - - - -
Zuko woke up slowly, hearing a pounding on his door. He was warm, warmer than usual. Not that he minded. It was comforting. His mind took awhile before he remembered last night. He looked down to see Katara sleeping peacefully in his arms. She too had her arms wrapped around him. They had fallen asleep like that. She was holding onto him while he held her. Gently, Zuko removed himself from her grip. He didn't have the heart to wake her. Zuko paused. Why shouldn't he be able to wake her? Shouldn't he be able to wake her without a second thought? Part of him knew why. But he had long forgotten that part was there. Before he could contemplate this further, the offending knock echoed in the room once more. Zuko marched over to the door and yanked it open with a fierce glare towards the knocker. Iroh smiled brightly at his nephew.
"Ah, Prince Zuko, did I interrupt something?" Zuko felt his eye twitch as he clenched his hand into a fist.
"Uncle!" Zuko hissed.
"Anyway," Iroh raised an eyebrow at Zuko. "It is rare that you are caught in your sleeping attire. Even more rare that you are caught sleeping in." With his nephew shooting him a blank look, Iroh elaborated. "It's two hours after breakfast." Zuko's eyes widened.
"Why didn't anyone come and get me!" Iroh sent his nephew a sly look.
"We did. But no matter how hard the servant knocked, you would not get up. Did something happen last night?"
"Uncle!" He closed the door, barely stopping himself from slamming it shut. He turned around to see Katara sitting up, suppressing laughter. "What?" He growled, not being able to find anything funny about his exchange with his uncle.
"You get riled up easily, that's all." She let out a giggle as Zuko glared at her dryly.
- - - - -
Ceres bit her tongue, forcing herself to stay silent as she walked across the deck. It would look wrong if she threw a soldier overboard. But that didn't stop her from wishing she could. She was tired to seeing the same things over and over again. The same Fire Nation armor, the same blue sky, the same blue water, the same annoying Admiral Zhao. Ceres narrowed her eyes when she thought of him. He was getting on her nerves. Unfortunately, she didn't have the power to spare for him. It would take her another hour before she had enough energy to retry her summoning. Refraining from snorting in disgust, Ceres sighed as she crossed her arms and glanced over the railing. It disgusted her. Why had the fires not spread to the skies? Why was the wind soft and refreshing when it should have been stale and harsh? Why was water cool and soothing when it shoulder have been boiling and unbearable? Scowling at nothing in particular Ceres shifted her weight to her left leg.
"You seem irritated." Ceres did not turn to glare at Zhao.
"You would be too if you were in my place." Zhao nodded to the soldier he was with, dismissing him.
"Lady Lilith, perhaps I have been too inconsiderate of your predicament." Closing her eyes, Ceres sighed. She turned and glared at Zhao.
"Do NOT presume to believe yourself better than me Zhao." It was Zhao's turn to glare at her.
"It is Admiral Zhao." Her fist clenched shut as she fought back her temper. Debating the issue over in her head, Ceres barely was able to stop her demonic traits from appearing. The firebenders would be too surprised to see such a display of power. She could use that moment to attack. She was fast enough. But she did not know how many firebenders there were on the ship. And Zhao himself was a firebender. She had promised to make him Fire Lord. She could not break her promise. The choice was painfully clear to her. She could not attack him. Not yet anyway.
"Hear this, Zhao," Ceres hissed, venom dripping from her words. "You only live because I will not break my word. It is my word alone that keeps you safe."
"Once more, you fail to realize that you are on a ship full of firebenders." Ceres gritted her teeth, trying to remain calm.
"And you fail to realize that the Fire Lord would not be pleased with you if he found out."
- - - - -
Zuko punched the air, sending out a blast of fire and followed through with a kick. Katara watched as he kicked and punched the air, sending out wave after wave of fire. The young waterbender clutched her hand over her heart. There was something in the grace he had when he moved. Something in the way he held himself. Something about him made her heart beat faster. Something about him made her cheeks flush whenever she saw him without a shirt on. Something about him made her feel safe. She couldn't put her finger on it. Whatever it was, the name of it eluded her. Glancing over at Iroh, she smiled. The old man was kind to her. And she found the way Zuko interacted with his uncle to be quite funny. Iroh was always patient with his nephew, never once loosing his temper. It was sweet how the retired general treated Zuko. Like his own son. Looking down, Katara remembered Iroh's words to her about Zuko.
"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."
Katara frowned in anger as she also remembered his other words.
"It was Prince Zuko's father, Fire Lord Ozai, who gave my nephew his scar."
She still had a hard time grasping the idea that a father would scar his own son. But she had always pictured Ozai as a horrible man because of the war. Part of her always thought that was an exaggeration, that no one could be that bad. But now . . . . now she knew. He was that bad. But his son . . . Katara stopped her train of thought. She didn't know what to think of Zuko. Not with her heart fluttering every time she thought of him. She didn't know when this started. It had been gradual. She didn't even know what it was. All she knew was it happened whenever she thought of Zuko.
"Prince Zuko, sir!" Zuko stopped his training. Both he and Iroh looked back to see a soldier standing at attention.
"What?"
"We've reached the North Pole, sir!"
- - - - -
Hi! Sorry it took so long to update. My cat had kitties so we've been taking care of them. Plus, after Katara confessed her fear to Zuko, I kinda ran dry on the creativity. Don't worry, I'm sure that writer's block hasn't come back to haunt me. I've pretty sure I've got I out the door. But unfortunately, you never know.