Wow, this chapter took me really long to write because the events just dragged on and on and on…. But I managed to finish it. So… here goes! oh, and guess what else? I updated after only TWO days! yay!

CHAPTER EIGHT – FACE TO FACE

Zuko paced around anxiously, dressed in his fighting clothes. He would be in a fire duel, so there was no need for heavy armor or weapons. Millions of thoughts swirled around in his head as he mentally prepared for the big fight that would soon take place. What would happen if he lost? He wasn't too worried about himself, since the worst he could go through was death. But, what about Katara? Zuko had no doubt that his father's sick mind would find good use of the waterbender.

A gong sounded in the distance and varying voices could be heard as all of the fire nation filled into the large arena, waiting to see the duel. Zuko sighed nervously and left the room, walking bravely towards the stadium. He entered through a small door and felt his heart stop.

The painful memories this place brought were so clear, so vivid. He could almost hear himself scream from pain when his father had scarred him. Suddenly, doubts filled the prince's mind. He'd done this before, and he'd failed. Zuko felt his body turn weak as he remembered the past. Thoughts raced through his mind, making him feel a rush of confused emotions. He couldn't do this! He was going to die. He just knew it.

Then, suddenly, all these doubts and thoughts of failure cleared from his mind when he saw two people. His father and Katara. The fire lord entered the room followed closely by a guard who was carrying a limp body dressed in blue. Zuko recognized the girl immediately and felt rage boiling inside of him. The anger pushed him and he instantly remembered all the suffering he had endured. It had made him stronger, and it had made him work harder. But as he looked over at Katara, he realized it was her care for him that had made him unbreakable.

With new determination rising, Zuko stepped forward boldly. He readied himself in a fighting stance and the fire lord did the same. They both stood, ready to attack, but neither made the first move.

"So, Prince Zuko", the fire lord started, stressing the word "prince" to make it sound sarcastic, "not so bold anymore, are we? It seems you have a weakness, and she is hanging onto her life by a single thread. If you win, she wins, If you die, she dies too. It is one of the oldest spells; unbreakable".

"Just like me", Zuko murmured to himself. He nodded, accepting his father's challenge. The fire lord laughed at his son's stupidity and began the fight. The two firebenders, father and son, were engaged in a history-making duel.

Zuko dodged blow after blow, shooting fire at his opponent in between. He narrowed his eyes and focused on remembering his father's weak points. The fire lord was strong on offense, but weak on defense. His right leg had suffered an injury long ago and never healed properly. Zuko aimed for this area and succeeded.

Ozai slipped when the heat brushed against his leg, allowing Zuko an extra second to attack. He took advantage of this and shot fire out from both hands, releasing a huge amount of energy as well as frustration. Soon, the intensity of the duel overpowered the structure of the stadium. Without warning, the ceiling cracked and split across the middle, letting in a ray of sunshine. This only added to the firebender's energy until the entire ceiling collapsed and the audience was forced to scramble to safety.

Anything outside the fight was unnoticed to both the firelord and prince. They were no longer dueling. This was a fight to live. In the end, one would emerge triumphantly, the other dead.

Zuko blocked an attack and returned with one of his own, hitting the firelord on his arm. Surprised that his father was being hit so easily, Zuko began suspecting there was a trap involved. He started paying attention to little details, but nothing looked suspicious. Two successful hits later, Zuko concluded his father had not grown weaker or slower, but Zuko himself had improved.

Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Zuko closed in on the older man. While the firelord was gradually tiring out, his son's energy was fueled by determination. Zuko was determined to win. He was determined to overcome his father. He was determined to keep Katara alive.

Releasing all his frustration on his father, Zuko flipped over and aimed for his opponent's face. A final blast sent Ozai sprawling onto the floor. Panting heavily, Zuko wiped offa trickle of blood and looked over in Katara's direction. She stirred, opened her eyes, slowly sat up, and saw something that made her freeze. But, it wasn't Zuko.

Katara had seen her brother and Aang suspended from a thick chain attached to the ceiling. One end of the chain was wrapped around their wrists, making their arms dangle above their heads.

Zuko turned and saw the same sight, but before he had time to react, a voice called out for him. The firelord, although badly beaten, was still clean and fresh in his mind. He had lost the duel; everyone could see that, but he wasn't about to let his son win. Plastering a pitiful look on his face, the firelord began sweet talking his son and begged him to be merciful.

"Were you ever merciful?" Zuko spat angrily. He had no reason to help his father, but perhaps, all that time with Katara really had softened him. He began doubting whether or not he should have his father in a broken heap on the floor. Sighing, Zuko walked over the firelord and helped him on his feet. He gave his father a look of disgust and strutted away, enjoying the feeling of victory.

He looked over at Katara again to see her reaction. Once again, it wasn't a good one. She was now pointing frantically at a spot behind Zuko and he whirled around to meet a deadly flame. With no time to block a surprise (and cheating) attack, Zuko fell hard onto the floor.

His father smirked triumphantly as he looked over his son's torn body. The firelord knew he had done an unhonorable thing, but the urge to win had driven him almost to insanity. He couldn't stand the thought of this teenager beating him.

As Aang watched all this while still dangling, he felt a surge of anger build up inside him. Even though both the firelord and Zuko had no value to him, he couldn't stand to see Katara in such a mess. The avatar had never seen his waterbending friend cry so much. The last time she'd even cried was when he'd accidentally burned her with fire bending. (remember? It was one of the episodes on tv!)

The chain suspending Aang to the ceiling began rattling as the avatar felt a strong energy from inside him. He really cared about Katara and the firelord had hurt her by hurting Zuko. Aang felt the chains give away and he floated to the floor. Without a second thought, the firelord tried to attack him. Aang waved his arms a little and a gust of wind pushed back the attack,

"You think you can fight me?" the firelord thundered.

"I don't want to fight you, I want to kill you", Aang answered in a threatening voice. The arrowed tattoos across his body began glowing a bright blue and a huge wind swept up around him. The audience, still sitting in their seats that were now mostly broken, watched in awe as the true avatar power came to life. Huge winds broke apart any walls that were left until everyone was exposed to the gorgeous sunset that was now taking place.

Katara backed away quicklyas the chains holding Sokka broke. The teenager fell to the floor and scrambled to his sister's side, trying his best to protect her. They both watched as the winds revolving around Aang became fiercer. The avatar's tattoos grew brighter as his energy increased rapidly. Finally, a bright flash of light, brighter than the sun that had now set, erupted and everything became deadly silent.

No one dared to move or make noise; they were too stunned by what had happened. Katara broke the silence as her footsteps rang out through the arena. She rushed to Zuko's side and lifted his head into her arms. She ran a finger across his neck, checking for a pulse. Relieved that he was still alive, Katara calmed down a little and looked around. All eyes were now on her, and many people didn't know who she was. Slightly embarrassed, Katara looked down at the floor while still cradling her prince in her arms.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Zula groaned in frustration as she raked a hand through her tangled hair. She was currently sitting outside the healing room where her brother, his little girlfriend, and the avatar were resting. Across from her sat that water tribe warrior… what was his name? Sokka?

The fire princess shook her head as she reran what had just happened in the past hour to herself. Everything happened so fast, she barely had time to react. In fact, the events flew by so quickly she could barely remember them.

In her mind, she could still see blurred memories of watching her father and brother fight. She remembered vaguely how her brother had gotten so pissed off he actually won. Then, she remembered her father attacking back after being shown mercy. Then… what happened? Oh, yeah, then that little boy had blown up everything and when the dust cleared, he father was dead.

Zuko sighed and closed her eyes, ignoring the weird looks she received from Sokka. Her father was dead. The meant her brother was now the firelord, which meant she was pretty much screwed.

"Fuck. I have to get out of here", she thought.

"What?" Sokka snapped his head up.

"Did I say that out loud?" Zula asked, blushing a little. Sokka shrugged and returned to staring at the floor. He was still lost in his own thoughts and didn't notice the fire princess walking away.

Zula entered the healing room and approached the bed Zuko was lying one. His eyes were closed and every once in a while, the teen would have pained expression on his face. On a chair right next to the bed sat a fidgeting Katara. She looked up at the red-haired girl without emotion, then quickly looked away.

"Who are you?" Zula asked, pulling up another chair. She sat on the other side of Zuko and tried to make conversation w/ the waterbender, hoping to get on her good side.

"I'm Katara".

"How do you know my brother?"

"I- He chased the avatar half way around the world, and I traveled with the avatar", Katara responded.

"Then shouldn't you guys be enemies?" Zula raised an eyebrow.

"Things happened", Katara didn't really feel like explaining. As far as she knew, this girl had been pretty mean to Zuko. But, what if that had been the fire lord's fault too? Katara decided she would talk to Zula and try to befriend her. Maybe she was different. Maybe she'd turn out to be like Zuko. As if trying to prove Katara right, Zula began speaking in a gently tone.

"You know, I think my brother really likes you", she said softly.

"Why?"

"I saw the look on his face when he saw you unconscious. My father summoned you so he could put a binding spell between you and Zuko. If he lost, you'd lose too. It's very old magic, which means it's also very powerful. Even now, your life forces are intertwined. But for the spell to work, well, it proved Zuko really cares", Zula had a faint smiled on her face.

"I'm his weakness. I can only hurt him if he cares too much", Katara said thoughtfully.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just kind of wanted to warn you", Zula explained.

"Warn me? What do you mean?"

"I mean… Katara, what do you see me as? I was made into a ruthless person by my father. When I saw the way Zuko comforted you when we were on the beach, I became… well, I started thinking differently. Any ways, I didn't really want to hurt you, so I tried to give you hints", Zula shrugged.

"You're just like Zuko; changed by you father", Katara murmured.

"Zuko talked to you about his childhood? That's pretty rare. Which proves once again he really likes - "

"Hey, shut up", Zuko had just awoken and quickly made his presence known. Katara broke into a grin and hugged him, burying her face into his chest. A feeling of warmth and safety came over her and she felt like she never wanted to leave this comfort zone.

"You know, there are still other people here", Zula remarked dryly, causing the couple to break apart. Katara smiled shyly and began playing with the edge of her torn dress.

"What happened?" Zuko asked as he sat up slowly.

"Well, father is dead. After you helped him up, he attacked you and you became unconscious. The avatar killed him", Zula replied.

"What?" Zuko found this hard to believe and turned to Katara for assurance. She gave him just that.

"You know, that means you're now the fire lord", Zula sighed. Katara turned her eye towards the girl, then quickly looked at Zuko. She'd never thought of things this way. Zuko would be some kind of… king? That just felt all too strange.

"What about you?" Zuko asked his sister.

"I'd fight you for the throne, but that would be stupid. Especially since I saw what you did to father. Besides, you pretty much hate me now. There isn't much for me to do here", Zula shrugged.

"I'm not going to kick you out, if that's what you mean. Doing so would make me the same as father. I'm not him", Zuko replied with a hint of bitterness in his voice. Zula smiled weakly at her brother, unsure of what to say. After taunting him for years by being the better firebender, she was surprised he was being so decent to her. Maybe that water girl really changed him.

The three teens fell into a thoughtful silence as they started off into space, each thinking about what the future would bring. The peaceful quietness was shattered by a soft 'thunk' that caused all three to turn their heads in the same direction. Aang had been rolling around while asleep on a bed and his fall woke him up. The avatar crawled to his feet tiredly and leaned on the bed for support. He was feeling kind of woozy.

"Aang! You're alright!" Katara called out happily as she jumped out of her seat to hug her friend. They embraced each other warmly and Zuko felt a surge of jealousy strike him. What was he thinking? This little kid was 12-years-old! He probably didn't even have feelings yet. Sensing her brothers discomfort, Zula turned to Zuko and gave him a knowing smirk. He glared back at her, but didn't say anything.

Katara let go of Aang and left the room to fetch Sokka. She wanted everyone together to discuss several important topics. She could only hope that any arguments didn't turn into battles.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The stars twinkled merrily overhead and a cool breeze swept through the courtyard, relieving Katara momentarily from the warm fire nation weather. She tilted her head to look up at the stars and hugged her knees to her chest. Beside her, Zula sat in a similar position while twirling her long hair around her fingers.

After the five teens (although Aang isn't really a "teen", but whatever) had discussed everything and come to several conclusions and agreements, everyone had gone their own way. Zuko had returned to his old room in the palace to rest and Sokka and Aang were shown their rooms by a servant. Zula had requested that Katara go take a walk with her to talk and now, here they were, sitting in the large courtyard in front of the palace.

The two girls had talked endlessly late into the night and quickly became friends. Their not-so-good first impressions of each other disappeared as the time passed by. Now, both girls were worn out and kept to herself, thinking quietly while sitting under the moonlight.

Katara finally had time to think about everything that had happened since she first arrived on Zuko's ship. She decided that things weren't really as bad she thought. She'd once been terrified of Zuko, but soon found herself falling for him. Then, she'd been worried about what Sokka and Aang would say, but they really didn't say much. In fact, Katara had been slightly disappointed that her relationship with Zuko didn't have much effect on anyone. Maybe it wasn't all that obvious

Next, Katara had worried about the firelord and his supposedly prized daughter, whom she found out was pretty much in the same position as Zuko. In fact, Zula had told Katara she never felt favored even though she was a "fire-bending prodigy". Sure, she had been great and was blessed with great skills, but she was also cursed with intense training and harsh discipline. Katara soon found herself feeling sorry for the girl beside her.

Minutes ticked by and Katara began thinking about the future. The official crowning ceremony was to take place in a week, after order had been restored. In a week, Zuko would rightfully take his father's place. Katara smiled a little at this thought. She knew that after all the time Zuko spent chasing after the avatar, his goal had been to claim the throne. And now, he would finally achieve what he'd been working for.

But, what would happen to Katara? Was she supposed to stay here with Zuko? She wanted to, she really did, but would he want her by his side forever too? And what about Aang and Sokka? During the discussion, both males had agreed to stay with Katara in the fire nation, and Zuko had agreed too. But, Katara was afraid people would change. She feared that things may fall apart in the future.

Katara was brought back to reality by Zula, who was gently shaking her shoulder. "Hey, we should get some rest", she suggested. The moon was directly overhead now, signaling the fact that it was around midnight.

Katara should have been tired at this hour, but she knew the moon fueled her energy. Still, she decided going to bed couldn't hurt. Silently, Katara stood up and followed Zula into the palace where she was shown to a room. A maid had laid out several articles of clothing and other small necessities across a table and Katara thanked her graciously.

As she settled into Bed, Katara began thinking about the rest of her life. Despite all the troubles she'd faced in the past and all the bumps she would hit in the future, she knew her life couldn't get better than this.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

I really hope you like it. I think there's going to be one more chapter after this, then an epilogue to wrap things up. oh, and please, please, please review! I know some people read fanfics, but never review, but those reviews mean so much to me! so review, ok?