Part: One- The Lutdeo
Chapter: Fourteen- Remembering the Past
Author: Fritters-4-Psi
Disclaimer: I do not own the show Avatar: The Last Air Bender or the related characters. Nor do I profit from this fanfiction. The only things of my creation in this fanfiction are the Koertan, Kashi, Risha, the concept of the grith coin, Vioniza, Raven's Watch, and Kali. Other possible thing to come in later chapters.
WARNING! More Zuko OOCness! WARNING!
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Soon, everyone finished their dinners. Katara insisted that she would do the dishes. It would be easier for her to do them because she was a Water Bender. She could only wash the dishes, though. That's when Zuko offered to dry them. Risha was unsure of what to think of that. Her cousin could be kind, but his way of showing kindness really wasn't drying dishes.
While the dishes were being completed, Risha stared at Sokka sitting at the table. He was glaring intently at her cousin and she felt more than a little uneasy about it. The hairs on the back of Sokka's neck stood up; he was being watched. He turned around, seeing Risha looking at him. "Is there anything on your mind that you would like to discuss?" she asked, "Like, why you are glaring at my cousin like you are going to kill him?"
She heard a small sigh. "It's nothing," Sokka insisted, "Except, up until a few hours ago, the three of us, Aang, Katara, and me, had feared Zuko. Aang is still weary about him. No offense, but I still don't trust him at all, even after we had to make dinner together. And Katara's over there, it looks like joking with him."
Over at the sink, it did seem like the two Benders were enjoying themselves. Zuko had a slight smirk on his face and Katara was laughing. "For all we know, this is just part of a plan for Zuko to capture Aang and turn him over to the Fire Nation," Sokka stated, "He could be gaining Katara's trust, only to entrap her on his ship. Then Aang and I will go to rescue her and Zuko will capture Aang."
"He won't. Trust me. I know him. He's more tactful than that," Risha explained, "Besides, you have a grith coin. That will ensure your safety."
Sokka pulled the round token out of his pocket. It was a simple thing, made of wood with red painted designs. "Only I have a grith coin though," Sokka said, "Judging from what you said, each coin only protects one person. What about Katara and Aang?"
"Don't worry about it. I'll give them each a grith coin if it makes you feel better," Risha suggested.
"I guess it makes a little difference," Sokka sighed.
Katara walked over to the table. "The dishes are done," she announced, "What now?"
"Like I mentioned to you before, I always check on Kashi after dinner. So that's what I'm going to do," Risha stated.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Sokka asked.
"No, thank you, though. I haven't seen Zuko in nearly six years. I think that I'll have him come with me," she explained, "I have a Pai Sho table over there. You're welcome to use it."
"I would be honored to go with you, Cousin. I need to check on the men anyway," Zuko said.
Together, the two cousins walked out the door. Remaining in the house was Sokka, Katara, Aang, and Iroh. The latter of which was teaching the three formers to play Pai Sho. "The object of this game," Iroh began, "To put it simply, is to win."
The cousins laughed, knowing that Iroh's explanation of Pai Sho would be vague, at its best. The pair walked in silence for a short while. It had been so long since they had seen each other. So many things had happened. One thing Risha was particularly interested in. "Zuko, when I was eleven, I was exiled. I hadn't seen you again until today. I would remember a scar like that," she pointed to his burn scar, "You didn't have that when I left. What happened?"
"Do you remember how we used to try to sneak into the council chambers? When all the old generals would talk war plans?" Zuko asked.
"Of course, I remember. We always had these plans to get in. Wasn't one that we'd make a hole in the ceiling and we'd lower ourselves down on a rope?" Risha snickered, "We never made it in."
Zuko looked off, deep into the forest. In the distance, to large white figures could be seen. The figures were walking slowly toward the barn, the same place Risha and Zuko were going. As they neared, the two white silhouettes turned out to be the flying bison, Appa and Kashi. "Hold on one second," Risha said and then walked over to the flying bison.
Even from a distance, Zuko could still hear what Risha was saying. "You two seem to have gotten awfully close. I hope I don't have to worry about there being little bison calves in a year and a half," Risha scolded, "I'm sorry to say, but the barn is being occupied. Both of you will have to stay out in the woods. Kashi, you know where there's good shelter. Show Appa one place and then, go find a different place."
Risha watched as the two massive creatures turned around and headed into the forest. She then walked back over to Zuko. "If I didn't know you, I'd say you are crazy. Normal people don't talk to animals in the way that you do. You know? Like they're actual people," Zuko commented.
"Well, you know that I'm not a normal person. I don't have to talk out loud to them anymore. I only do that when I need to get a point across. Kashi's worrying me. She's gotten way to close to that bull. I just hope that she hasn't been bred. Flying bison carry their calves for a year and a half. She'd be nine and a half when she calved. I hoped that she wouldn't get bred until she was ten, if I was able to find another flying bison. She's just too young," Risha was worried.
The Prince of the Fire Nation laughed. "Do you know who you sound like?" Zuko asked, and Risha shook her head, "You sound like Kali, the nurse. She was all sorts of worried about you when you were exiled. I can remember her going on for hours about how you would get yourself pregnant because you weren't at home. Or that you would some how manage to walk yourself off a cliff. It was bad."
"I do not sound like Kali!" Risha scoffed, "I don't sound like her."
Zuko looked at the two bison lumbering out into the forest. "I'm guessing that it was Kashi that I saw earlier?" He asked.
"I was wondering about that. I was planning to use myself as a decoy, to lead the Fire Nation troops, who turned out to be your troops, away from the Avatar. But you didn't follow," Risha said.
"I noticed several things when I saw the flying bison. It was flying north. The Avatar has just come from the north. Why would he go back? The other thing was, Kashi doesn't look the same as the other bison. She's smaller, for one. And her markings are different," Zuko explained.
"I guess I'm not as strategic as I thought I was," Risha joked, "So, how did you get that scar?"
"It was two years ago. I asked Uncle Iroh if I could go into the council chambers and listen to the war plans. He was worried, but he let me on the condition that I wouldn't speak," Zuko sighed, "There I was, sitting, listening to all the old generals talk war plans. One of them was talking about this plan to use a host of the newer soldiers as decoys. They were going to let all the men die! I told the old generals what I thought of it. I was then challenged to Angi Kai."
"They were going to have you fight an old man? Who had one foot in the grave?" Risha laughed.
"That's what I though, as well. Seeing how I spoke out of turn in my father's war chamber, he was my opponent. It was cruel to think that I would fight my own father! I couldn't do it. Father called me weak. I was exiled. Until I capture the Avatar, I cannot return home," Zuko looked down, "I don't even know what happened to the host of men."
"Wow . . . " Risha said slowly, "I know what happened to the host . . . They were used as a decoy. Every single one of them died."
"How do you know this?" Zuko asked.
"The animals, they bring me news," Risha said, "Now, let's go make sure your men haven't redecorated the inside of my barn."
Zuko nodded and they walked over to the barn. The men, it seemed, were all asleep. Also, thankfully, they hadn't redecorated the barn. The soldiers had been extremely respectful of Risha's property. Together, Risha and Zuko left the barn. Once outside, Risha asked her cousin, "Can I ask you question if you'll promise that you won't get angry at me?"
The Prince nodded. "While you were drying the dishes, you and Katara seemed pretty close. Is there a reason for that?"
Zuko looked as if someone had caught him going to the bathroom. "Well, you see. She's a nice girl. And we realized that we have a lot in common," Zuko stammered, but regained his composure, "You see, we both lost our mother's at a fairly young age. Both of our father's didn't get to spend a lot of time with us when we were younger because of the war. The main difference is, Katara's father actually wanted to spend time with her."
"And a big difference between you two should be obvious. You're a Fire Bender. She's a Water Bender. We all know what happens when fire and water mix. The fire dies and the water evaporates. It would never work between you two," Risha reminded Zuko.
"Okay, Kali," Zuko teased, "Beside, who said anything about a relationship beyond a friendship?"
"Honestly, Zuko. Katara told me about that necklace of hers. You found it and kept it for quite a while. Why else hold onto it? It could have sold for quite a lot," Risha said plainly, "You like Katara, don't you? There's no need to tell me if you do or you don't. All that matters are your actions."
With that, Risha turned to the house. Dumbfounded for a second or so, Zuko stood there. Soon, though, he followed his cousin to the house, thinking about what she said.
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Okay, because I love you all, and I don't know when I'll be able to get on again to update, here's a second update. Two updates in one day! Whoot!
A/N: Who else loves the saying "One foot in the grave"? I know I do. Oh, I knew I'd run into trouble for where the plot of my fanfic was going and where the actual plot of the actual show was going. I wrote this chapter before the season finale. After seeing the season finale, I have no idea how Katara and Zuko could over come their differences and have a relationship. In my eyes, most likely, all possiblities of Zutara are dead. But what do I know? I'm not one of the writers of the show. Maybe there'll be some stunning revelation. Anywho, this is still going to be a fanfic with Zutara in it.