Chapter 7: We Are Born Innocent

Katara sighed, shifting her bottom around on the hard leather saddle. She had never thought it possible for her thighs to ache this badly. The horse beneath her nickered softly in annoyance at her frequent movements.

"It's not like I'm riding you of my own choice," she hissed. "It was either this or walking all the way to the Romu Province." Romu Province was located on the northeastern shore of the Fire Nation, so walking would have been quite a slow process. It was also the location of the latest rebel raid. News was, those Kyoshians had set up a fort there as well. Well, they couldn't very well let the rebels just stay there, could they? Plus the fact that a famous rebel leader, the warrior Yuhao, was rumored to be the one leading the raids in Romu. He was the proverbial thorn in the Fire Empire's side, and was one of the most wanted rebels, dead or alive.

Katara knew Warrior Yuhao. He'd been her spear instructor on Kyoshi Island. He had three children, the oldest of which was named Kian. She and Sokka and Suki had often played with Yuhao's children in the summer.

That was a bit of information she'd decided to keep to herself.

"Sore?" Hiro asked, grinning slyly as he smoothly drew his own mount up next to hers. "It gets better after the first few days."

Katara just grimaced. "I hope you're right."

"Say," said Qin on her other side. "If you were raised on a farm, you should be familiar with horses, right?"

Was Qin suspicious? Or was it just an innocent question? His tone seemed to suggest that he just wanted to make conversation.

So she would make conversation. "Yeah, but the ones we had were big plowing animals, not for pleasure riding. We keep a small farm in Yeriv, mostly to escape the attention of the raiders."

Everybody seemed to accept this as a perfectly reasonable answer, and the six of them rode in companionable silence for the next few minutes.

Six, because a surprise had joined Patrol One.

The Emperor Zuko.

His tall, straight form was riding a regal black horse at the front of their mini-procession alongside Lt. Ensei. Katara's forehead creased in a slight frown as she thought about the implications of his presence here. It meant that this mission was more important than the lieutenant had let on. Ride to Romu Province, kill some rebels, go home. There had to be something else going on here, if the Emperor himself was focusing his personal attention on this mission.

When she asked why the Emperor was here, Qin merely shrugged. "He's come with us before."

Katara kept staring blankly. "Why?"

"Him and the lieutenant are good friends. And I imagine ruling an Empire gets boring after awhile." Qin grinned. "Hey, if you're really so curious, just ask him. He ain't gonna bite."

Yeah right. But she just shook her head exasperatedly. Either Qin really didn't know anything, or he was just fooling around because he didn't want to tell her the real reason. And as if she would just walk up to the Emperor of the world and ask him what he was doing here when he had every right to do anything he wanted.

But isn't that the way you spoke to him last night?

Katara shook it off. That had been foolish action on her part, having an impromptu rendezvous with the Emperor Zuko in the middle of the night. So far this morning, he hadn't even acknowledged her. In return, she treated him with the same impersonal courtesy as any subject would accord to their ruler. If he wasn't going to be open about their little tête-à-têtes, well, she wasn't keen on letting the whole word know either. She shifted uneasily. People would definitely take it the wrong way if they learned about it. No more heart-to-hearts with the Emperor, got it?

"I heard he wants the Warrior Yuhao interrogated," Faozu said, a peaceful expression over his blunt features.

"So why not just get Lt. Ensei or somebody else to do it?"

Faozu shrugged. "He wants to speak to the rebel leader personally. Apparently, Yuhao is some bigwig in the rebel government—"

He is all but the Mistress's right-hand man, thought Katara silently.

"—and it'll be much too dangerous to cart him back to Kotzut. Too many chances for escape. Most likely we'll kill him as soon as the Emp's done with him."

Katara averted her eyes and distracted herself by combing her horse's coarse mane through her fingers. Torture. It would definitely be needed. Warrior Yuhao was infinitely loyal to Kyoshi. But how much pain would the battle-hardened veteran be able to take before opening his mouth? Would he choose death over betrayal?

It wasn't a question she liked to think about, for it struck much too close to her own delicate situation.

She wondered if she would be expected to kill on this mission. Mouth set in a grim line, she decided she'd do what was required of her to finish her mission, both this one and her secret one.

When Ensei finally called a halt to the grueling ride for the night, Katara sighed in relief and dismounted with a bit of difficulty. She almost fell face first onto the forest floor as her legs, seemingly locked in a bowed position from the day-long ride, refused to acknowledge her commands. Ignoring the sniggering from Qin, she reached up to unpack her supplies which included her sleeping bag, extra set of clothes, field rations, back-up weapons, and other essentials.

At the side of the small clearing, Faozu and Hiro were already setting up the tent, a simple canvas structure that could sleep five; six if everyone squeezed. But they wouldn't have to do that, as the Fire Lord had brought his own single-man tent. Evidently, as Qin said, he'd done this before. For some reason, Katara found it hard to imagine. The Fire Lord must be used to a life of luxury in the palace. Why would he voluntarily choose to come out and rough it in the wilderness with a bunch of soldiers?

Whatever. She'd do her job and he just better make sure he didn't get in her way.

He is the job, Katara.

"We'll be at the Fort in Romu Province round noon tomorrow if we make an early start. So eat, sleep, and piss while you can." Ensei announced, before striding off into the forest to follow his own instructions.

Katara sat by the small pile of sticks that Hiro was gathering to make a fire, both of them trying to figure out how to light it without the wind blowing out the match every time. Just when they were getting especially frustrated, a thin stream of flame shot in from the side, effectively lighting the small campfire into a cheery bundle of warmth. Katara and Hiro had both leapt back at the surprise, but Hiro looked up at the impenetrable Emperor.

"Thank you, sir," said Hiro. Katara mumbled something along those lines.

Qin grinned as he came to join them, stretching so something cracked in his lower back. "Quite handy to have a Fire bender around on a mission, your Highness."

The Emperor just nodded and proceeded to eat his own dinner while everyone else unwrapped their food.

Later that night, once the fire was put out, everyone crawled into their sleeping bags to dream until dawn arrived. Katara lay there on her back, sandwiched between a snoring Faozu on one side and a shifting Hiro on the other. She was already used to all of their sleeping habits, except for the lieutenant, who didn't bunk with them back at the barracks. Faozu would snore a quiet, rhythmic inhale-exhale all through the night until morning. Qin occasionally barked out random phrases in his sleep. Hiro shifted around in the first few minutes until he found what he called his "comfortable position" and then he was dead to the world until light.

Perhaps the lieutenant was like her. Eyes open, staring blankly above, awake and thinking, thinking, thinking, wishing sleep would take over but knowing that it wouldn't come for a long while yet. I hope I don't have insomnia.

Eventually she did drop off, lulled by the almost-music of Faozu's breathing next to her ear.

Katara couldn't help coughing, almost bending over double as the smoke rose around her in a gray mass of confusion. The fire Emperor Zuko had set on the floor level of the rebel-controlled Fort had quickly risen, devouring everything in their path.

"Let's move, move, move, soldiers!" yelled Lt. Ensei, a flash of yellow hair through the haze before her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Hiro asked, all of a sudden beside her.

"Yeah—yeah I'm fine. Let's go." She stood up again, blinking away smoke-induced tears.

Hiro turned and dashed into the gray haze, Katara, crouched in a low position, followed after him, keeping his form in her sight.

A shout from before her, and then the sickening thud of a body hitting the floor. Peering through her irritated eyes, Katara caught a glimpse of Qin flicking bright red blood of his sword efficiently, and then stepping over the green-clad, white-faced warrior at his feet. Averting her eyes, she stepped over the body when it became her turn and followed her patrol further into the darkness of the burning fort.

Don't be sick, don't be sick. Thankfully the smoke covered up the coppery smell of blood.

That morning they'd woken up and been ushered by a harried Lt. Ensei onto their horses before breaking for Romu Province at a full-out gallop. When they'd arrived, they found that the rebels were already alerted to their arrival. Emperor Zuko had set the place ablaze to flush them out.

"Kill anybody who tries to kill you," had been Ensei's instructions. "But leave the leader, the Warrior Yuhao alive. The Emp needs information."

Hurrying forward behind Hiro and Qin, Katara knew now that they were looking for her old spear-teacher.

Then Faozu grabbed her arm, spinning her around and shouting to their teammates before them, he pointed out a window they'd just passed. "Out there! Lt. Ensei, look outside! The rebels are escaping into the forest!"

Immediately the lieutenant was by their side, face a mask of controlled tension, yellow eyes glaring at the window down onto the forest floor. "Damn! The fucking cowards."

With a simple hand motion, he gestured for the patrol to follow him and they were running, back over the dead Kyoshi warrior and down the crumbling stairs until they were outside, finally free of that throat-choking smoke. In less than a second they were off, charging into the forest, following the flashing green uniforms of the rebels before them.

"We can't lose them!" Lt. Ensei was in front, and faster than her eye could follow, his hand grabbed silver and then a knife was embedded in green cloth. One down, how many more to go?

Then, through the bushes and fallen leaves of the forest, she caught a glimpse of aged gray eyes in a face of white. The Warrior Yuhao, concealed behind the brush, gave her a split-second look of recognition before he disappeared among the foliage. Panting, Katara knew he would not give her position away. The Mistress had told all her top advisors about Katara's mission and why she was masquerading as an Elite Fire Empire soldier.

The look he'd given her was obvious. Don't tell them you saw me.

She wasn't going to tell the Emperor anything.

"Split up! Qin, Hiro—with Zuko and me. Katara, Faozu—you're in the trees with bows now. Shoot anything green that moves."

As she was scrambling up the nearest tree trunk, Faozu imitating her not three trees away, the Emperor shouted up at them, "Shoot to wound, not kill! I need the leader!"

Katara gave him a curt nod before heaving herself up into the branches of the oak. With trembling fingers, she unslung her bow from around her shoulders and notched an arrow, barely able to point straight. The Emperor, Ensei, Hiro, and Qin had disappeared after the Kyoshi Warriors, probably to chase them back here so Katara and Faozu could have a clearer shot. An ambush.

The adrenaline pounded through her body, blood rushing to her ears as she sat in wait, wondering how everything had happened so fast to bring her to this point in time. Would she be able to let go of the arrow when the time came? Would she be able to consciously kill another human being? Qin had done it earlier with no hesitation, far more concerned with cleaning his sword of blood than the dead enemy at his feet.

Death is the life of a soldier, Katara. Do you think it would have been any different if you'd been a Warrior?

A sudden rustle of leaves snapped her heat to the side to stare intently at a clump of bushes on the ground. A flash of white—she raised her bow with shaking arms—but another arrow, not her own, whistled through the air and slammed into the enemy, a pained grunt coming from the ground. It must not have hit any vital organs because the green-clad Warrior was up and running, an arrow sticking out from one arm, away from the two Elite archers and into a denser part of the forest.

She'd caught two desperate gray eyes before he'd left.

She could hear Faozu cursing as he tried to get down from his tree, intent on chasing the escaping quarry.

"Faozu!" she waved her hands wildly at the other soldier. "Faozu, you stay, I'll go get him! He's coming my way!"

Faozu nodded quickly before returning to his post.

Leaping from the tree, Katara left her bow behind as she hit the ground at a run, intent on catching Yuhao before any of the other found them.

What the hell do you think you're going to do? Save his life? Don't be crazy, Katara.

There! Up ahead came the sounds of harsh breathing. The leaves she darted past were stained with sticky red blood, and as she burst from the underbrush, he turned, startled gray eyes relaxing as he recognized her.

"I didn't—I wasn't the one who shot you—" she panted, coming to a stop next to him.

"I know, Katara, I know." He slumped to the ground, clutching his left arm to his side. "I'm getting slow—age is catching up with me."

She examined him, the famous Warrior Yuhao of the rebels, leader of many successful offensive raids. His hair was graying at the roots, wrinkles lined a face that was much too old to be tramping around in a forest, risking his neck for an already doomed cause. What had the Mistress been thinking, sending him out on such a dangerous mission in Fire Nation territory, no less?

She bent to help him up. "Come on—we don't have much time to get you out of here—"

"Katara." His voice was soft but commanding. She refused to meet his eyes as she tried to get him to stand up. "Katara. What do you think you're doing?"

"Trying to save your life!" It came out harsher than she'd meant it to.

He didn't seem to take offense at all. There was a sort of regret, a resignation and a satisfaction in his eyes. "It's okay, Katara. It's my time."

"You have a simple arm injury! The least experienced doctor could fix that!"

"You know what I mean."

She slowly let go of his shoulder and sank to the ground, trying to come to terms with what he was saying. The forest was full of members of her own Elite patrol, intent on capturing this man and torturing him for information. If they caught him, the only escape for him would be death, and that wouldn't come until long, long after they'd gotten what they wanted from him.

"I won't betray Kyoshi, Katara." His voice was gentle, ready.

She just shook her head. "There's another way—there's got to be—"

He placed one bloody hand over her own. "Would you submit me to pain and torture until secrets are forced from my lips? It might be days before I am finally granted the relief of death."

"I can help you—"

"Stop it." Now his voice was more urgent, almost pleading. "Listen to me. Your fellow soldier knows you came after me. What'll they think when they find out I escaped? You'll be under suspicion, and your mission will be shot to hell. Don't jeopardize the lives of thousands because you think you can do something about me. Do you understand? Do you understand me, Katara?"

She nodded.

"I'd rather die now, here, by the hand of one of my own, than at the hands of those bastards." He slipped a knife, one of Kyoshi make, from his belt and wrapped her fingers around it.

Katara resisted, shaking her head vehemently. "Don't make me do it—Don't make me do it—"

Now he was hissing. "You must learn, Katara! Did the Mistress make a mistake in choosing you for this? If you can't do it to me—if you can't do it when I'm begging you to do it—how are you going to kill him when the time comes?" His bloodless knuckles shook her hand, the one tightly gripping the knife.

I don't want to. Don't make me, please.

All of a sudden, both of their hands jerked up to the crashing sounds of people running through the forest. Katara's eyes widened, recognizing the angry voice of Ensei and the smell of smoke that meant the Fire Emperor was trying to burn out the rebels.

Yuhao's eyes were desperate and half-made now. "Do it!"

Her hand trembled, white as bone. White as a warrior's face-paint.

"—there's somebody over here!—"

Those gray eyes of his were begging, hating her for hesitating. "Do it!"

Both his hands shot up, gripped her own hand that held the knife, and plunged it into his heart.

His body jerked, blood foaming at his mouth. The gray eyes dimmed as he choked out, "My children—tell—"

Yuhao died.

Katara's hands fell from the knife to her side. There was no blood staining her palm or fingers. Yuhao's stab had been clean; efficient. There was no evidence to condemn her.

Then the clearing was filled with people; Ensei, the Emperor, Hiro, Qin. In a few minutes, Faozu joined them, staring at the body on the ground.

"This is the Warrior Yuhao?" asked Hiro.

"This was the Warrior Yuhao," spat the Emperor almost contemptuously. He whirled around to face Katara, still kneeling on the ground. "What happened here, soldier?"

Her blank eyes fixated on the dead boy of a great warrior before her. She held up one hand in a helpless gesture. "He was dead by the time I got here. Suicide; he didn't want to be caught and tortured for information. He killed himself." She pointed at the knife in his chest. She was obtusely proud of herself. Her voice was calm and with just the right amount of regret and exasperation in it. A perfect Elite's voice, angry at having just lost a prize. It revealed nothing about her inner thoughts.

The Emperor cursed. "Damn! I needed him."

Not more than Kyoshi did, she thought silently. Not more than Kyoshi needs me now.

The ride back from the Fort at Romu Province didn't take long. They decided to camp at the same place they had last night, since it was a good spot with a clear stream a short walk away.

The jolting movements of the horse under her no longer seemed unusual to Katara. During the entire ride she thought about nothing but the smooth way the knife gripped between both her hands and Yuhao's had slipped into his chest so easily. How the light in his eyes had died so quickly. How the words he'd tried to speak had never made it to anything comprehensible.

Tell his children what? That he loved them and wanted them to know it? That there was a secret stash of gold buried beneath their house? Whatever it was, if she survived this and made it back to Kyoshi, she would make sure to tell Yuhao's wife and children that he had died an honorable death defending Kyoshi's secrets. And that she had been there with him in his last moments; he had not died alone.

What does it matter if he died alone or in company? He's dead.

Camp that night was quiet and subdued, owing mostly to the Emperor's bad mood. After she ate, Katara softly informed her patrol that she was going for a quick wash and clean-up in the nearby stream.

"Don't get lost," said Hiro absentmindedly as she gathered soap and other essentials. He knew she wasn't stupid enough to lose her way when the stream was less than a five-minute walk from the campsite.

"I won't."

It was a clear night with the moon almost entirely full. Plenty of light. The stream was shallow and clear enough so that she could still see to the bottom of it. Teeth chattering a bit, she stripped until she was in her under things, piling her clothes on the rocks by the water. She trusted the men enough not to be peeping toms (weren't they mature enough to be beyond that by now?) but people got lost on the way to the bathroom, or a wild animal might jump out at her. At least with her underwear on she had some semblance of modesty in the possible face of humiliation, or even danger.

The cool water felt good against her sweat- and smoke-stained skin. She carefully untied her hair and let it drift in the water. Katara didn't consider herself a hygiene freak but she definitely liked feeling clean.

As she soaked in the stream, she couldn't help but feel that the Emperor's ugly mood was semi-directed at her. Katara assumed that he partially blamed her for the death of Yuhao, who could have been a great source of information. In truth, she supposed it was her fault. But in front of the Fire Emperor and the Elite soldiers, she would maintain the lie that he had killed himself.

And he had. In the end, Yuhao had committed suicide, because she hadn't been able to deliver the blow that would end his life. She hadn't been able to do it, even to protect the people of Kyoshi Island. Even to save Yuhao from definite torture at the hands of his would-be captors. She'd been an utter coward. His words rang in her ears:

"If you can't do it to me—if you can't do it when I'm begging you to do it—how are you going to kill him when the time comes?"

Her hands were stained blood-red.

Gasping, she lifted them in a panic from under the water, staring intently at her palms in the light of the moon. Tanned, almost nut-brown skin. No red. An illusion. It was all just an illusion.

How was she going to kill Emperor Zuko when the time came? Yuhao had forced her hands on the knife and into his body. She had not done it by choice; was there a difference? She'd never killed anybody in her life before. And now her first assassination target would be the Emperor of Practically The Entire World. Shouldn't she have at least… practiced? Killing Emperor Zuko was most definitely a big deal. What if she screwed up? What if she just couldn't do it?

No what-ifs. You'll do it, and you'll do it right, because otherwise five thousand Kyoshi citizens will die for your cowardice.

"Hey—are you done yet?"

She whirled around in an automatically defensive position before remembering her current state of undress. Eyes straining to see in the dim light, she scrabbled for her black shirt, holding it up to cover her front while her bottom half stayed underwater.

"Shit!" she cursed. Who the hell was that?

"Oh—I'm sorry—I didn't realize, oh fuck—" He whirled around so his back faced her, still talking. "I'm so sorry."

Katara was spitting mad as she sloshed through the water, intent on reaching her clothes as soon as possible. How could she have been fool enough to trust them? No matter how professional they were as a team, how soldierly they acted around each other, they were still men, and as such, the would be provoked to do insensitive and utterly perverted things. She didn't give a damn which one of them it was—

"Don't give me that bullshit about not knowing what I was doing here!" she raged at his back, stumbling into her pants. "I was in the water—I told you all where I was going and what I was doing—you're obviously lying if you say that you didn't realize and accidentally stumbled upon my private bath." She cursed again as she almost tripped over a rock trying to get one leg inside the right hole. "Once the Emperor hears about this—this indecency you will be thrown out of the Elites so fast you won't realize—"

He turned, judging she was dressed, and she saw the glint of moonlight on the scarred side of his face.

She was shocked speechless for a moment before the fact that it was Emperor Zuko who had been spying on her registered.

Then she just got even more pissed off.

"You! You—you—" Katara sputtered.

"Yes? Me?" He replied in an almost amused tone.

His sarcastic little remark completely blew her fuse. She didn't care if he was the Fire Empire. Nobody got away with this kind of thing, at least not with Katara. "You think that just because you're the Emperor you have any right to just intrude on my privacy? That you're so all-powerful that you can gape all you want and not get in trouble for it?" She drew in a deep breath, getting ready to let loose. "Let me tell you—just because you're royalty doesn't entitle you to a free peep-show at every girl who walks across your path—"

"Hey!" Emperor Zuko snapped back, breaking off her tirade. "I wasn't here for a peep show—"

"That's just bullshit all over again, you and I both know it—"

"I came here to check on you! To make sure you hadn't been eaten by some wild animal or taken prisoner by an escaped rebel," he interrupted her, a scowl on his face.

Katara stopped, fists unclenching in surprise. Then she realized that it may well have been a lie he concocted in order to indulge in his perverted little fantasies. "Like I believe that! I know what you're like! I have a brother your age—I know how immature you boys can be! I know—"

"What? What do you know about me that I don't already know?" he said, and it wasn't the indignant, equal-argument voice he'd used earlier. It was a cool, smooth, politician's voice. A ruler's authoritative tone. It then occurred to her that she had just called her sovereign and commander immature and you boys, or, in essence, a little child.

It would definitely be classified under Disrespect and Insubordination of the First Degree.

She shut up.

They glared at each other under the moonlight. It was hard to glare with any sort of intensity while she was shivering, hair still wet and unbound, dripping water everywhere onto her clothes which were skewed and most likely on backwards. He achieved the intense glare much better, having the advantage of height and being properly dressed and oh-so-warm.

Knowing that there was absolutely no justice in the world, Katara finally averted her eyes and said, "I'm sorry if I offended, sir." No justice at all!

The minute the word sir fell from her lips, he seemed to stiffen and replaced the glare with a cold, commanding look. As if he'd been reminded of their positions, of the fact that she was a lesser soldier with no rank and he was the Emperor of the Fire Empire. Immediately, everything was put in perspective and rebounded to the way things were supposed to be.

Emperor Zuko nodded. Then he seemed to think of something. "I apologize as well for… interrupting you." He forced it through like he had a hard time saying it.

You call that interrupting? But what choice did she have but to accept his apology? And obviously he considered it a big leap from his prideful pedestal to apologize to a lowly commoner like her. She gritted her teeth and nodded back. What else could she do?

"We should probably head back. The others will be wondering what happened." Saying this, the Emperor Zuko turned and walked back through the trees, leaving her dripping on the bank of the stream. She stood there, still gaping at how everything had happened so fast, when he finally realized she wasn't following.

"Come on. We don't have all night."

Finally shaking herself from her stupor, she gathered her items and ran to catch up with him.

When they reached the campfire, their fellow soldiers looked up at them with a bit of surprise and relief.

"What took you so long?" asked Hiro.

"We had a little—discussion," answered Katara, thin-lipped.

"Your shirt's on backwards, you know," grinned Hiro.

"Thanks," she snapped back before pulling her arms from the sleeves, rotating it around, and slipping her hands back through the right holes. "I was interrupted and didn't have time to dress properly," she said with as much dignity as she could muster. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the Emperor discreetly moving to check his horse's equipment, turning his back to the soldiers around the campfire.

Ensei smiled his lazy, dangerous smile. "You were taking a long time, and we got worried. The Emp volunteered to check on you on his way to the bathroom. Guess you weren't done yet, huh?"

"No!" She stomped around the fire, shoving her stuff back into a saddle bag. "And I can take care of myself, thank you very much!"

The lieutenant just kept on smiling while Qin sniggered. Katara noticed Faozu wasn't there. There was somebody moving around inside the tent. He must have felt like turning in already.

She sat down against the log next to Hiro, trying to shake off her bad mood. Bad enough the Emperor had caught her almost naked, but now the entire patrol knew about it too. This all better be worth it.

But Ensei had already moved on to other topics. "The rebels knew we were coming today," he said, uncannily serious.

"What do you mean?" asked Hiro as the Emperor sat down next to the lieutenant.

"I mean that place was absolutely deserted. They knew we were coming and skipped out, leaving a group behind to delay us from following them and finding out where they were headed to."

"You mean—you mean somebody told them we were coming? Like a spy?" said Hiro.

"Yeah. A spy."

Katara told herself to breathe evenly.

"Well, who knew we were coming aside from our own selves?"

Ensei looked over at the Emperor, as if asking him silently to answer the question.

The Emperor Zuko stared into the fire. "I told my uncle, because he rules as Regent while I'm gone. I suppose several of the advisors and war leaders had to know as well. The usual group; Huang, Gen, Wunan, Shen, and Zhao."

The lieutenant barked out a short laugh. "Huang and Zhao? Those bastards? Aren't you afraid of leaving the country in their oh-so-capable hands while you're gone?"

The Emperor shrugged, a wry smile on his face. "My uncle can hold off the sharks for awhile. Zhao especially likes it when I come out on mission. Each time he hopes I die on the way and never come home, leaving the Empire without a suitable ruler."

"Well, wouldn't your uncle be able to rule if you actually die?" Hiro asked. Katara remembered herself asking the same question several nights ago.

"No," answered Ensei smoothly. "Iroh isn't exactly of child-making age." He nudged The Emperor in the ribs. "But I bet the old Dragon of the West could really get up and go if he needed to. For the sake of his country, I mean."

Emperor Zuko closed his eyes with a pained look on his face. "Stop. Don't even go there, Ensei."

Katara managed to keep from outwardly rolling her eyes. What she'd found out since she'd joined these Fire soldier was that all the jokes they told were usually double entendres, smart-ass comments referring to women, ability, size, or anything about sex. She supposed that since most of them weren't married and were just out of the teenage years, their minds would be pretty focused on one thing. She'd learned to ignore it, and laugh along if it was funny. She'd learned things she hadn't even known were possible since joining the Elites.

She tried to pull them all back on topic. "Then who would become Emperor if you died, sir?"

The Emperor grimaced. "Zhao. We're very, very distantly related on my father's side—so distant we probably don't even share a single drop of blood. But since I don't have siblings and my parents are dead and my uncle's too old, Zhao'd be the one."

"Would he try to kill you?" Will he beat me to it?

The Emperor and Ensei exchanged looks. "I don't think he's so desperate as to do such a thing," Emperor Zuko said slowly. "Or at least, not yet."

"I don't know," Ensei said softly. "Zhao is—he's a screwed up guy. Probably the most ambitious and power-hungry I've ever had the unfortunate chance to meet."

The talk went on to cover more topics, not a single one of which was about the day's events. Qin didn't talk about the rebel he'd killed; he did not boast of it or otherwise. Lieutenant Ensei said nothing about the man he'd killed with his throwing knife. Faozu didn't say anything about how he'd shot Yuhao from his position in the trees. The Emperor did not complain about the death of a valuable source of information.

Apparently each man would dealt with his own ghosts in his own way and in his own time. Were they so used to killing that it no longer mattered? Did they see the faces of the enemies they'd killed in their dreams? How did they come to terms with it? Did they ever? Would she ever?

School has started. Updates now might come slower. I will still write. Just not as often. Sorry.

Q & A:
Does everyone look like the original characters? – zuko'sbabygirl
Yes. Physically they all look the same.

Is Zuko II the son of Prince Zuko from the show? But if this story takes place 100 years after HATP or when the Fire Nation became the Fire Empire then how would Zuko's and Katara's son be under the age of 20? -JunkFood
I specifically said in the epilogue of THATP that this story takes place 100 years and THREE OR FOUR GENERATIONS after the ending of THATP. Meaning that this Zuko II is not K/Z's son, more like their great-great-great-great grandson. The people born between the two of them (well they are essentially the same person) were different, and they don't really matter.

Becasue if she had blue eyes, brown hair and tan skin, wouldn't the firebenders be able to recognize her as a waterbender? –crazyaboutavatar
Hm. I'm not positive what color eyes she has in the show – I am assuming blue, but I've heard blue-gray (someone check that for me). I think it's a possibility in the Avatar world for mixing of blood to occur. Katara could chalk it up to having some Water tribe relative far, far back before the extermination of Water benders happened. I suppose we might have to overlook it. Good catch though, crazyaboutavatar.

Is Hiro an incarnation of anyone? -also from crazyaboutavatar
If you can believe it, I originally meant for him to be a young Iroh! Notice, Hiro is an anagram of Iroh. But then I decided to keep the original Iroh in the story, so NO, Hiro is NOT an incarnation of anybody. He is pure OC.

did u plan all this before you started writing or made it up as you went along? -Simsim1705
An actually useful question. I applaud you. Well, I have an outline that I make for the story with major points that I've already thought up and want written. I place these in order according to when I want them to happen, and I make little notes in the margins reminding myself what needs to be included and what I must not forget. It ends up being all very, very messy, almost illegible. But it works. The real details of the story I don't write until I sit down in front of my computer. The outline just helps me organize major events. And some of the time, stuff doesn't go as I expected, but in a totally different direction. Does that help?

if you don't mind, what grade are you in? you must be older than me (8th) your such a good writer -Simsim1705
Thank you so much. XD Alright. I knew this was coming. Let's play the "How Old Is RedNovember Game". Guess, and I'll poll the results. Hey, this could be fun.

Amber- Thanks for the Writer's Block advice. XD

NEXT CHAPTER- One word: Adia.