Farewell
". . . . what do you want to talk about Katara?" His face was stoic as they stood in the stables. He was too angry with her to say anything else without yelling. How could she love that jerk? He didn't know. But she was his sister so he tried to control his temper.
"Sokka . . . I love Zuko." Sokka snorted at the idea in disgust. "I do!" Sokka crossed his arms
"He's just tricking you Katara! He doesn't love you! Fire Nation savages like him don't know what the meaning of love is!" Katara shook her head as she thought of Zuko's mother. She wanted so badly to tell Sokka all about Zuko, in order to make him understand. But it wasn't her place. It wasn't her story to tell. It was Zuko's. And Zuko would not want her to go off telling everyone his past. Zuko barely allowed himself to tell her. It had hurt him just to remember his banishment . . . . and his mother. And Katara couldn't break his trust.
"Even if he was, I love him. That should be enough to get you to go easy on him." Sokka's mouth formed a thin line. He wasn't pleased with this, not at all pleased. "Besides . . . I know that he does love me."
"Katara he's from the Fire Nation! He's the Prince!" Sokka exclaimed but Katara just crossed her arms.
"And that shouldn't matter. It shouldn't matter if two people are from two different nations. He's not responsible for the action of others. The person responsible is his father; Ozai." Sokka stomped his foot in anger.
"Exactly! And he'll be just like his father when he takes the throne and becomes Fire Lord!" Once more Katara shook her head. She knew Zuko well enough that he would rather die than become anything like his father.
"No! He's waging a civil war against his father! He wants to end the war!"
"He's just saying that so he can get you to lower your guard." Katara narrowed her eyes.
"No, he's not. Zuko's tried to push me away a ton of times. He doesn't want anything to happen to me." She snapped, her anger rising. How could her brother not see that she was in love? He should be happy for her. But all he was doing was trying to break them up. Couldn't he understand? True, Zuko was sometimes obsessive. Once he had his mind set on something, it was hard to get him to do something else. But that was only one side of Zuko. The angry side that his father forced him to be the only side he showed. The other sides were the ones Katara had to drag out of him. Ones that she had watch for carefully and when they appeared, she had to grab them and refuse to let them disappear. There was a caring side, the side that comforted her when she woke up from nightmares, the sensitive side that came out when he talked about his mother, and the loving side that would only show to those he truly cared for. And she was one of those few people.
"I doubt that." Sokka snorted as he glared at her. He was her big brother. He just didn't want anything to happen to her. Didn't she know that? It was his job to protect her. And even though he couldn't protect her from Ceres, he would certainly protect her from Zuko.
"Sokka . . . . I was the one that pushed him into this relationship. He didn't want to be with me because he was worried that I would get hurt. I was the one that started this." It was partly true. Zuko had practically ran for the hills after he kissed the first time when he told her about his mother. She would leave out that he kissed her first. She didn't need to give Sokka more ground. Sokka sighed as he glared at the ground, kicking it once or twice, and then relented.
"Fine. I'll let you be. But if he does anything, and I mean anything, you don't like, then he's a dead man." Katara gave him a small smile. That was the best she would get until Zuko finally proved himself to Sokka.
- - - - -
Ceres looked in her vanity mirror. She had finally been able to kick those maids out of her new room. Slowly, she pulled the crystal dagger out from under her dress. The maids were reluctant to let her wear that, but when she had merely said that it was all she had to remember her family by, they agreed that it would be fine for her to wear it when she visited the Fire Lord. Closing her eyes, Ceres smirked. It was easy to manipulate these mortals. Stretching her arms above her head, she leaned back in the chair and listened as her bones made creaking noises. Soon she relax once more and rested her head in her hand as her arm was propped up on the vanity. Looking in the mirror, Ceres's smirk deepened.
"Soon my precious little Katara . . . ." She whispered as she pressed her hand against the cool glass. "Soon . . ." She hissed as the room darkened and thunder cracked during the cloudless day.
- - - - -
Brenda finished braiding her hair when a knock on the door caused her to look up.
"Who is it?" She called out as she stood and wrapped the belt with her sword around her waist loosely.
"Commander Raymond, ma'am." Sighing, the admiral gave a tug on her braid as she pulled it over her shoulder. Pinching the bridge of her nose, the Black Rose of the West let out a puff of smoke in frustration before walking to her door and opening it.
"What is it?" Her tone was bored as she questioned her second in command. Did he not know that he shouldn't bother her? After all, she had just enjoyed a nice bath. All she truly wanted to do was relax.
"The Avatar and the water tribe warrior are leaving." Nodding, Brenda stepped out of her room and closed the door behind her. Things wouldn't be so interesting without the Avatar around, but she would live. After all, Katara and Zuko weren't going anywhere.
- - - - -
"Aang . . . ." The young airbender turned with Momo on his shoulder and smiled at Katara.
"Yeah Katara?" Katara looked behind her to see Sokka glaring at Zuko who was smirking with his arms crossed.
"Why . . . why are you . . . ." She trailed off, unsure of how to say her question.
"Why am I helping Iroh and Brenda keep you two together?" Aang supplied, making Katara nod. Aang's eyes softened when he looked over at Zuko. He could see her. He could see Leila sitting on the railing behind Zuko with a soft smile on her face. The woman, sensing that she was being watched, looked around. After a moment, her gaze rested on Aang and she gave him a gentle wave.
"Aang?" Katara looked behind her to where Aang's eyes watched only to see Sokka and Zuko. Turning back to Aang, she waved her hand in front of his face, causing him to look at her, surprised. "Are you alright?" Aang smiled once more and nodded.
"Yeah." He glanced over at Zuko only to see no one sitting behind him on the railing. Sighing, Aang looked back to Katara. "I know this is gonna sound crazy, but sometimes . . . I can see a woman near Zuko." Katara blinked, confused.
"Leila, correct?" The two looked over to see Brenda walking towards them. Katara looked at her, startled and confused then turned her confusion towards Aang when he spoke.
"Yeah. I think that's what she said her name was." Brenda smiled and looked over at Zuko before turning her attention back to the confused Katara.
"Leila was the Fire Lady, Prince Zuko's mother." Katara looked over at Zuko who had turned his smirk into a glare as Sokka poked him while talking to him.
"You can see her?" Aang shrugged to Katara's question.
"Every once in awhile."
"That doesn't surprised me, Avatar." Brenda smirked as she rested her hand on the hilt of her sword. "You are the bridge between the spirit world and the living." She smiled as she thought of some distant memory of Leila taking care of Zuko. "But . . . Leila forsaking the heavens to stay with her son . . . . that's something she would do." She muttered before leaving the two and moving over to Zuko and Sokka. Zuko was tapping his foot as Sokka continued to talk to him.
"So . . . . the reason you don't object is because of Zuko's mother?" Katara asked, still confused. Aang shrugged.
"I suppose that's part of it. She told me all about Zuko one night . . ." Katara's eyes softened as she thought all she knew about Zuko's past. "But the other part is that he makes you happy." Katara looked surprised when Aang told her this. However, the surprise faded and she smiled before pulling him into a hug which Aang returned. She pulled away when she heard laughter coming from Admiral Brenda. Zuko was bright red for some reason and Sokka looked slightly uncomfortable.
"I WOULDN'T DO THAT BEFORE MARRIAGE!" Zuko yelled, storming away, still bright red. Brenda had to hold onto a railing to hold herself up from her hard laughter. Katara rolled her eyes, figuring out what they were talking about for the most part. At least Sokka was not trying to kill Zuko. That was a step up.
- - - - -
Ceres looked down at the circle she was standing in that had been drawn with her own blood with ancient symbols all around it. The disguised demon held her hand out with the crystal dagger floating just above her palm.
"Demonic powers within me," The crystal started to glow. "Bring forth a creature from my past," Wisps of light left the dagger and slowly traveled down to her dried blood. Once the light touched her blood, it lit up. The lights danced over Ceres's skin as wind pushed and pulled at her clothes and hair. "Minion of mine break free," Her eyes turned red for a moment as the symbols began to move around the circle she stood in. "And do what spells I cast!" The symbols of blood rose up into the air and spun above her. A wicked laughter echoed through the room as the lights died down and the blood symbols faded away. A small spider rose out of the shadows. It was like a black widow but the colors were flipped. Ceres knelt down and scooped up the spider in her hands. "Use the shadows and travel. Do to the girl I seek. Her name is Katara. She resides on the ship of Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. Bring her soul to me. That will surely bring the boy and her body to me." She put down the spider and if faded into the shadows, intent on caring out her plans. Standing, the ancient demon looked up at the falling sun. A hour or so more and it would be night. "Zhao's plan . . . . he forgets that I am Ceres." She hissed as she made of fist and narrowed her blazing green eyes. "I will not be ordered around."
- - - - -
Zuko watched as the speck that was Appa faded from sight. Katara stood on deck
"I hope that he practices the firebending that we taught him." Surprised, Zuko looked over to see Brenda standing behind him with Iroh.
"You taught him how to firebend?" With a smirk Brenda nodded.
"What, do you think he just sat around on his butt while he was here?"
"No, but I didn't see him do any firebending." Zuko argued. Sighing, the female admiral rolled her eyes while stroking her braid.
"He taught him while you were usually trying to steal Katara away from her brother." Iroh laughed at Zuko blushed, remembering the conversation Sokka had with him. It was embarrassing to even talk about what Sokka said he couldn't do. Zuko was embarrassed as it was when he was caught kissing Katara by his uncle or aunt. To even ask Katara to do that before she was married? If he were to do something like that, he would be red for a few hours before he even asked! Now, it was true that Zuko was a teenager, but he was a prince. A banished prince at that. By the time he had reached the age to think of girls like that, he was too busy chasing the Avatar! Zuko cleared his head with a mental shake.
"So he's learning two different elements at the same time . . ." Zuko muttered to himself. However, Brenda over heard him and put a hand on his shoulder causing him to look up at her. A faint smile was evident on her lips as she spoke.
"Go to her. She must be feeling sad. For all she knows this could be the last time that she sees them." Zuko paused, thinking her words over, before he agreed and moved towards Katara. He waited silently behind her, not wishing to disturb her but also wanting to be close to her. He could wait until she turned around to come to him. After a few minutes, Katara finally gave out a sigh and turned around. She stepped back, surprised. However, Zuko, deciding to be bold again, reached forward and pulled Katara into a hug. She stiffened and then relaxed as she held onto Zuko like he was her only lifeline.
- - - - -
Brenda sipped her tea with her brother. It was late at night and Zuko and Katara had already gone to bed. Brenda knew they were asleep from the long day. And she couldn't help it. She had to peek inside of Zuko's room. After silently awing at the cute site of Zuko holding Katara while they slept, Brenda slowly closed the door (having sworn for a brief moment that she saw Zuko crack open his eyes to look at her right before she closed the door) and made her way to Iroh.
"Brother . . . . how long do you think until the demon comes for Katara?" Iroh sighed as he put down his tea.
". . . . I do not know. Ceres is a powerful demon. I have no doubt that it got off the island after we left. But where it has been and what it has been doing is a question I am more concerned about." Brenda looked up at her brother sharply.
"Are you saying-" Iroh nodded.
"I think Ceres might have found an ally." Brenda swiped the air in front of her, bits of fire following her hand.
"Impossible!" She snapped. "No one in their right mind would side with Ceres!" Iroh shook his head with a grave look in his eyes.
"I do not think that you fully understand the situation. There are many people in all three of the nations that are power hungry. If Ceres happened to come across one of these people, it would surely offer its help of getting the most power for that one person." Brenda closed her eyes tightly and sighed.
"And right now the person with the most power is Ozai. Meaning that this civil war of ours won't last that long. All Ceres has to do is get close enough to our brother and then we'll be attending his funeral." Once more Iroh nodded.
"Yes. I do not think we will ever see our brother alive again." Brenda rubbed the side of her head with a tired look in her eyes.
"Perhaps . . . when he dies, he returns to the man Leila fell in love with." Iroh looked down at his tea.
"Yes, perhaps then he can repent for all he has done."
- - - - -
Hmm . . . this chapter took a more serious note. Well, I don't have much to say. Please review. It helps me know what you like and don't like so that I can make it better.