Story Arc: New Allies

Part: One- The Lutdeo

Chapter: Twenty- A Fight

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 things to come in later chapters.

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Soon after his cousin had left, Zuko saw Katara exit the house. The Water Bender had stopped briefly to talk to Risha, but continued shortly after. She had gotten his note. A nervous sense of joy passed over the Prince. Of course he was happy that Katara was coming, but what if something went wrong? She could be allergic to the flowers he had picked. Or what if she wasn't interested in the Koertan calf, like Risha said she would be? It was entirely possible that she had only come to yell at him for constantly trying to capture her friend, the Avatar.

Incase the latter was true, Zuko approached with slight caution in his stride. As he neared, he noticed no malice in Katara's eyes, denoting a chance of anger. A wave of relief passed over the Prince and that caused him to walk more confidently. When the Water Bender was no more than four feet away, Zuko bowed courteously. Soon there after, he straightened himself, then offered the flowers he had picked. "These are for you," Zuko said as he handed Katara the flowers.

"Thank you," she replied, "They're beautiful."

"I always did believe that beautiful people deserved to be in possession of beautiful things," Zuko remarked.

To hide her blush, Katara leaned toward the flowers to smell them. Zuko offered his arm for her to take. Graciously, she took it and they began to walk, arms linked. A quick look over his shoulder led Zuko to see an angering sight. His cousin had just kissed the Water Tribe peasant. Katara must have sensed that something was wrong. She looked to where Zuko's eyes rested. By then, the kiss was over, though. All she saw was that Sokka had gently grabbed Risha by the arm. "What happened?" she asked.

"It was nothing," Zuko shook his head, "Lets continue, shall we?"

Together, they started toward behind the barn. For a short while, they walked in silence. After coming events, Zuko was glad that they had been silent. It couldn't have been five minutes after the Prince had seen his cousin kiss Sokka, when he heard the rushing of feet. With a quick look to Katara, he unlinked their arms. He turned just as the Water Tribe warrior knocked him to the ground.

Sokka had a look in his eyes showing that reason was being blinded by vengeance. He kept Zuko pinned to the ground, throwing punches at the Prince's face and chest. Zuko was not kept down for long, though. He managed to push Sokka out of his way. Zuko tried to remain calm, but his composure broke when Sokka possibly inhibited his ability to have children by kicking him in the family jewels. The Fire Nation Prince, with all his might, after he recovered, punched Sokka square in the jaw. The Water Tribe warrior stumbled backward, but looked at Zuko with malice in his eyes. "Stay away from my sister," he commanded.

"I saw you kissing my cousin," Zuko said, "You stay away from her."

Sokka wiped the trickle of blood from his mouth. "Who are you to tell me what to do?" he asked, "I challenge you . . . "

"Agni Kai," Zuko stated with contempt, "Today. In two hours."

"I'll be there," Sokka said through gritted teeth.

The Prince of the Fire Nation stormed off toward one of the paths leading into the forest. Risha, who had run over to where the boys had been fighting, hurried after her cousin. She would have liked to help Sokka take care of his wounds, but of the two, Zuko had come off worse. He had reached the edge of the forest by the time she had caught up with him. "Zuko, are you okay," Risha received no answer from her cousin, "I'm sorry. For not telling you about the whole Sokka thing. I was going to tell you earlier, but I thought it would ruin your good mood."

Zuko shot a repugnant glare at his cousin. "If you were happy, why would it ruin my good mood?" he remarked, "You should have told me. In the Fire Nation, keeping information withheld is as good as lying. That is what angers me."

"I'm sorry," Risha tried to apologize again.

"I suppose you had a good reason not to tell me," Zuko sighed, "I accept your apology."

The despondent look on Risha's face all together brightened. Being back on good terms obviously brightened her ambience. "We still have a problem," she commented, "You challenged Sokka to an Agni Kai."

A shocked look crept onto Zuko's face. "You aren't asking me to withdraw my challenge, are you?" he asked, "That would take quite a blow to my already crumbled honor."

"Of course, I'm not asking that of you. I know it wouldn't help you restore your honor by canceling a challenge. I know your honor is very important to you," Risha stated, "But an Agni Kai is also known as a Fire Duel. Agni Kai is always fought between two Fire Benders. You have an unfair advantage as a Fire Bender against Sokka, who obviously is not. Fighting him as he is would be very dishonorable."

"As always, you do have a point," Zuko speculated, "Fine, do what you have to so that the odds are closer to being even."

With a smile and a bow, Risha thanked her cousin. Slowly, she walked toward the barn where Sokka sat. When she was just out of earshot, Katara ran up to Risha. "Is he okay?" she asked, referring to Prince Zuko.

"Other than a little bruised. He's fine. Well, and, of course, his wounded pride," Risha laughed, "How's Sokka?"

"Just about the same. Except, that hit Zuko gave him in the mouth is causing a lot of blood flow," Katara looked at her brother, "I think he's mad at me, too. I offered to heal his wounds with water, but he just looked away. I'm going to go see if there's anything I can do for Zuko."

As Katara jogged over to the Prince, Risha walked over to the Water Tribe warrior. He sat on a small rock, pressing a cloth to his mouth to slow the blood. Gently, the Fauna Bender took the cloth from Sokka's hands. She wiped away some of the blood that had dried on his chin. Then reapplied the pressure to the open wound. Sokka took the cloth into his own hands again, giving a slight nod of thanks. "You have to fight my cousin in two hours. It was going to be an unfair fight, but Zuko agreed that I could do what I may to even the odds," Risha sat down on the ground next to Sokka, "Agni Kai is a Fire Duel. To help even the odds you would need a Fire Bender on your side. I'm going to fight along side you."

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A/N: Man, it took all the self-control I had not to call this chapter "ZUTARA! OMG! IT'S HERE!" Of course, there's not much Zutara in this chapter. There's more Sokka/OC than Zutara.

Reviews

19, SovereignxXxBrunette : Until you called me evil, I didn't realize I had a cliff hanger ending. I did have a good New Year. Thanks for asking! I ate snack food all night and watched the movie 'The Island'.

19, Half-elf: What kind of Zutara fic would this be if Sokka didn't have a fit about his sister hooking up with their sworn enemy? And, you're right. It is so funny. I love that Sokka tackles Zuko. It's just so great.