Chapter 23
Three Months Later
I climbed into bed next to Zuko, warming my freezing toes on his hot skin.
"Agh!" He jumped.
"What's wrong? I thought firebenders didn't get cold." I teased, wiggling closer to him under the blankets.
"You bring new meaning to the word 'cold'." Zuko grumbled.
"Awwww, did a little firebender train a little too hard today and get all cranky?" I cooed tauntingly to Zuko.
"You try fighting 40 new recruits at once and then you can complain about how crabby I am." He growled from beneath the blankets. I laughed. Zuko's determined leadership and stirring speeches, as well as his almost flawless battle tactics, had attracted a great number of new recruits from the surrounding villages. Our numbers had swollen to almost a thousand men. The truly incredible fact, however, was that many of them were firebenders.
A sharp rapping sound came at the door. I got out of bed and padded to the lock. Zuko pulled a pillow over his head a groaned. I opened the door to see a bright-eyed young recruit saluting me sharply.
"Miss Katara!" He straightened like a rod and put on his best 'soldier' face. I smiled warmly. He was so young. About Aang's age.
"Good evening, Shing. What can I help you with?" I opened the door a little wider, letting the boy inside. He smiled widely when he realized that I remembered his name.
"Miss Katara, Maishu is back from his patrol around the northern coast. He brings with him forty firebenders that were found fishing by the shore. I thought Commander Zuko might want to interrogate them." He peeked around my shoulder to where Zuko was still in bed with the pillow pulled tightly over his head.
He'd not gotten any sleep in a day and a night, and it looked like he wouldn't be getting any tonight, either. I frowned. He couldn't go on like this. He was crabby enough already without the lack of sleep.
"Shing, tell Maishu to take the prisoners to the hold. They can wait until morning."
"No." I turned. Zuko was sitting up and rubbing his forehead. "I'll be right down. Tell Miashu to assemble them. Hurry." Shing bowed quickly to his commander and left in a blur of motion. I closed the door behind him and walked back to bed.
"You can't keep doing this to yourself." I followed him to the wardrobe where he'd just hung up his tunic and armor. Zuko grunted in response and began to pull on his tunic. I sighed. I had learned long ago that it was impossible to argue with the young prince. He was as stubborn as a mullox and twice as ornery.
He flicked his wrist and flame sputtered from the oil lamp above the wardrobe. The flickering light mingled with the moonlight that shafted in through the open window. I smiled, remembering how happy I'd been the day we'd moved from our tiny, cell-like room into a more comfortable bedroom. One with a window and even a running bath! I'd used it religiously each night until Zuko began to complain of not being able to come into the room until I was done.
Of course, that whole problem could have been solved had we just taken rooms apart from each other, but neither of us had expressed a wish to do so, and none of the soldiers had questioned us about it.
If the soldiers suspected anything they did not show it. I hoped that they did not think there was anything going on behind the closed door of our room, because there wasn't. Ever since that first day I'd found myself wrapped in his arms as he saved me from the cold sickness, we'd found solace and comfort in each others embrace each night. Somehow, despite the atrocities of the day, despite the bloody, cruel realities of war, we'd found the ability to face them, wrapped in each other's arms.
I pulled the heavy leather breastplate down from the hook in the wardrobe. Armor had been a newly acquired treat, as several of our recruits were leatherworkers. They would take the skins from the animals the hunters had tracked and butchered for the cook and would work them into valuable armor. They were not nearly as advanced as the gleaming metal armor of the firenation, but they were certainly a step up from the bare tunics we used to wear.
I tied the straps of the breastplate at his shoulders, feeling the muscles beneath his tunic flex and harden as he adjusted to the added weight. I pulled the straps firmly, tightening the armor, and reached around his middle to tie the straps in front. I let my hands drop down, sweeping over Zuko's stomach before I pulled away. I felt him shiver a little and smiled mischievously.
"Out." I whispered in his ear. "I need to get dressed now."
"No, stay here and get some rest. I'll be fine." Zuko said, turning to face me.
"You are always so ready to take the fate of the world on your shoulders. You're more like Aang than you realize." I laughed as I straightened his armor.
"Hmph. I'm not a child." He growled at me as he swaggered from the room. I gave him an appreciating glance as he walked away.
No, you're certainly not. I shook the thoughts from my head. They'd been becoming more and more frequently in the past few months, and it was getting to the point where I was having a hard time ignoring them anymore. Some day, I knew, I'd have to confront them. But I didn't want to. I didn't want to admit that...
That...
I busied myself in front of the small mirror. I arranged my hair in the traditional Water Tribe braid and pulled a green tunic over my pajama shift. I blew out the lamp and headed for the door, hoping that this would be over quickly so I could get back to sleep and forget the troubling thoughts that were so constantly running through my mind.
Zuko was standing in the middle of the war room as forty firebenders clustered around him. I slipped inside the door and walked quietly to my place beside him. A few of the firebenders glanced at me. Some were angry, some were confused, but most were scared. Many were young; much younger than the rest. The Fire Lord's running out of soldiers. He's going to start sending babies into the war now. I thought bitterly as I studied the recruits.
Zuko was silently watching them. I hid a smile as I remembered the first day I'd walked into the war room. I'd been so scared. I'd tried to hide it, just as these soldiers were doing now. But, unlike Teikei, Zuko had no light, cheerful laughter or smiling eyes to dispel the fear the prisoners must have been feeling at that moment. If anything, he looked far more intimidating than he really was. The dark scar burned over his face and his golden eyes stared fiercely as flame above the grim set of his mouth. Two of the soldiers were trembling.
"How long have you been at war?" Zuko finally addressed them. "How many sons have died by your side as you fought a battle for one man's greed?" A few of the soldiers looked at Zuko with puzzled expressions.
"How many acts of dishonor have you shamed yourselves in committing for Ozai's bloodlust? How many years have been absent from your home, your children, your wives? You may say to yourselves that you would never betray the Fire Nation. I say to you right now that neither would I. I am a son of the Fire Nation as much as you are. Not only a son, but a prince." A few eyes widened and a couple soldiers mouthed the word 'Zuko.'
"My father would destroy you all if it meant that he would receive more power or more land. You know this. You, soldier! How long have you been at war?" Zuko pointed to one of the older soldiers. He had a wizened, grizzled face.
"Forty-five years." He said softly. There didn't seem to be any fight left in the old man. His slumped posture proclaimed that if Zuko ordered his execution tonight, the old man would welcome it with open arms. "I have not seen the wife of my youth in forty-five years. I do not even know if she still lives." The old man slumped further. A look of compassion passed quickly over Zuko's face.
"You, how many years have you been fighting?" Zuko now pointed to a small boy who had hidden himself from the Prince's burning gaze behind the shoulders of another soldier.
"S...sih..sih..six months, sir." He stammered. Zuko walked up to the recruit and looked him in the eye.
"Is this what you want? Forty-five years of war, like this soldier here?" Zuko gestured to the old man. The ancient eyes of the man stared tiredly at the child, their wrinkled, sunken rims betraying a great sorrow, and a horrible future.
"My father will do this to you. To all of you! He will take your life and he will throw it away in his lust for power. You can spend the rest of your life fighting an endless, bloody war..." Zuko paused as his eyes swept the small troop.
"...or you can join me and finally end the brutal rule of my father." A gasp and a murmur of surprise went up from the troop.
"I will never betray the Fire Nation! You are a traitor and a fool!" A brave young soldier spoke.
"I do not defy the Fire Nation. I defy the traitor that rules from its throne." Zuko's face softened and his voice lost its hard edge. "Enough people have died for his bloodlust. There can, and there must, be balance among the nations.
"I will give you the night to sleep on it, and I will come for your answer in the morning." Zuko waved his hand and the earthbender guards took the prisoners away.
"Wait. I don't need a night. Heaven knows that may be all I have left on this earth." The old man Zuko had first addressed spoke up and separated himself from the rest of the soldiers. He pushed away the guards that tried to restrain him and hobbled over to Zuko.
"I'd like to speak with you." He said, settling himself on the floor. If Zuko was annoyed by the man's audacity he did not show it. Instead, he bowed and offered the man a cushion.
"What would you like to speak of, sir?" Zuko asked respectfully. The man raised his eyebrows and nodded.
"A far cry from the spoiled brat that used to run around poking swords at everyone." The corner's of the old man's mouth twitched in a smile. Zuko's cheeks warmed with a red tinge and I caught the quick look he gave me from the corner of his eye.
"Do I know you, sir?" He brow furrowed.
"My name is Quint. I was the best friend of your Uncle Iroh. We were both generals in the army, but I fell from grace, it seems, and have spent my days languishing at sea. It's never set well with my stomach. Tell the truth, I'm glad to be on land again." The man rubbed his belly.
"Uncle Iroh..." Zuko murmured. His eyes took on a faraway, homesick look. "Do you know where he is? If he's well?"
"No, haven't spoke to him in years. Not since you were a baby, anway. Ha! I still remember that time you mooned the entire court when your father was throwing that hoopla for the Fire Nation dignitaries. Ha ha! You got quite a spanking for that one." The old man slapped his knee and laughed while Zuko squirmed uncomfortably. A laugh escaped my lips, but I covered my mouth when Zuko shot me a death glare.
"Yes, you were quite the little rebel back then. That much hasn't changed." Quint added. "But there is something different about you, my Prince." His voice sobered and he looked Zuko in the eyes. "You've become a man, that much is obvious. And, from the look of it, I think your uncle would be quite proud." I saw a smile grace Zuko's lips. It was so beautiful. Since he'd taken on the decision to fight his father, Zuko had remained as serious as stone. I'd almost forgotten how handsome he was when he smiled.
"Yes, you've gotten much more respectful, as well." The man glanced at me and grinned. "I suppose this young lady's got something to do with it, eh? She give you a few sound spankings?" He winked at Zuko. A crimson blush lit his cheeks and his mouth dropped in mortification. The old man laughed again. I blushed at the images that were filling my head and hoped that no one would notice.
"Well, I think that's enough reminiscing for tonight. I've come to tell you that you're father's enlarging his army. And Zula, too. He's made her admiral and given her charge over more ships than you can count. The army's ballooned to over thirty thousand men, Prince Zuko." Quint's voice hushed to a murmur.
Suddenly, the world seemed to be crashing in on me. Thirty thousand men? It was an impossible number.
"Surely there's been a mistake!" I said. "Last we heard, there were only ten thousand."
Quint shook his shaggy head. "The Fire Lord has tripled his efforts. He wants to win all the lands before Zula's eighteenth birthday, which is just before the comet arrives."
The comet! A tidal wave of memories washed through my mind.
"The comet! Aang was told by Avatar Roku that he had to defeat the Fire Lord before the comet came!" I said. How could I have forgotten?
"Why?" Zuko looked at me with confusion.
"Because the comet will make the firenation unstoppable. You told me once that you rise with the sun. Well, imagine two suns in the sky! We will be defeated before we even have a chance to fight!"
"But Zula's birthday is only two months away! There is no way we can raise and train an army to fight thirty thousand firebenders in that amount of time." Zuko stood, clenching his fists. Sudden realization dawned on me.
"No... we can't do it Zuko, not alone." I said softly. "We need Aang."
"Aang?" Quint looked at me questioningly.
"The Avatar." I explained.
"You know him personally?" Quint raised a shaggy eyebrow at me. I nodded.
"My brother and I traveled with him for a while."
"How will we find him? We don't even know where he is!" Zuko was pacing now, the fiery energy made the room hot and I fanned myself with the edge of my tunic.
"Well, Zuko, if I remember correctly, you were pretty good at tracking him down once." I said with a wry smile. "Why not do that again? I'm sure we can find him before the summer's end."
"We?"
"I'm coming with you, of course! He's traveling with my brother!"
"You'll just slow me down."
"Well excuse me, Mr. Perfect Prince, but I forgot how feeble I was. So feeble that I beat you in our last sparring match."
"You didn't beat me, you tricked me."
"Hmm, so it seems I'm also more clever than you."
"Ha!"
"Ha!" I stuck my tongue out at him. It was childish, but it felt good. Zuko turned his face as a smile tugged at his lips.
"So it's settled then." I said, crossing my arms.
"What's settled?"
"We're starting out tomorrow afternoon to look for the Aang, and I'm coming with you."
"No, we're setting out tomorrow morning and you can carry my things." He said as he strode from the room.
Now alone, the old man burst out laughing. "Ah, yes, he's changed quite a bit, and yet none at all." He looked at me and shook his head. "You've caught quite a man, young miss." I blushed and was about to deny it, but he raised his hand to stop me. "He's got a stubborn streak in him, that's for sure, but I've honestly never seen a man with a stronger heart. He will never let his people down, I can tell you that right now."
My chest swelled with pride for Zuko. I could see it in him, too. The fiery passion that lit his eyes and made living with him a daily verbal battle was the same passion that would keep him from giving up in the tough days ahead. But then Quint leaned forward, his voice dropping into low, conspiratorial tones.
"And Katara, I can tell you this as well, I have never seen the prince so in love before."
"Wake up. Katara. Come on. Dawn is breaking!" I found myself staring at a blurry image of Zuko's face.
"Mmmm... fife moor minush." I yawned as I rolled over. Why did firebenders have to rise with the sun? Why couldn't they sleep through sunrise like normal people?
"Now, Katara!" Cold air hit me like a bucket of ice water as the blankets were ripped from my body.
"Aie!" I shrieked, wrapping my arms around my knees. Zuko stared at me defiantly. Suddenly, Quint's spanking suggestion didn't sound so bad.
"I talked to some of the men last night. They said that a 'great shaggy flying monster' was seen flying above Kata just two days ago. If that's true, he's probably headed for the shoreline."
"How far away is Kata?" I asked as I stretched. I stood before the open window and let the sun fall on my body and chase away the cool of night.
"A... a walk of... of about two days." Zuko said from the doorway, where he watched me from the corner of his eye. I nodded. A two day walk. And at the pace Zuko walked... I moaned as I stretched. My legs would get a workout. But it would be good for me. I put my arms behind my head and pushed my chest out, feeling the relief of my spine cricking back into place after the meager night's sleep.
"Are you all ready?" I asked Zuko as I went to get dressed. I'd packed my bags the night before, so all I would have to do was dress and then leave. I stopped in my tracks when I got no response from Zuko. I'd been expecting some annoyed quip about me taking too long when he had been ready for hours, but none came.
"Zuko? Are you okay?" He was staring at me with wide eyes. He quickly looked away.
"I'm fine. I'm just... packing." He said huskily as he languidly rummaged through the pack. I shook my head at him. He could be so unfathomable sometimes.
I pulled my tunic on and hefted the heavy pack to my shoulders. The straps bit into my shoulder but I bit my lip and didn't complain. Zuko would see that I could keep up with him. I was just as strong as he was!
The air was crisp and clear, with just a tinge of early summer's heat. I breathed in deeply and started down the trail. I'll show him. I'll get there before him and be waiting at the city gates!
"Hey trail guide. Kata's this way." I snapped my head around to see Zuko leaning against a tree marking a trail going in the opposite direction. He smirked at me and sauntered down the trail. I fumed inwardly. Oooh, this was going to be a long walk.