Saeka: I know. (points to date from last update) I know. My only hope is that you can bypass the year or so that I haven't updated, and read my story again, cause you even if you're reading this right now (which I severely doubt you are) you are indeed lovely and wonderful! And I promise that this story won't be like the other Zutara ones, for if it was, Katara would have already been tragically captured by Zuko while frolicking in the forest with Aang, and would then be forced to do his every bidding. There you have it. Muchos Thankos to everyone who reviewed! If I had money, id by you all cookies! You're all gorgeous ladies, gorgeous!
And now, I hope this chapter will clear up some confusing things (as I intend for it to do!) so let's get to business!
Whilst running from one's past, it may be a good idea to wear high-performance athletic shoes.
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Chapter One: The Shadows Behind His Eyes
Morning
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"I want her," Zuko said simply as he stared unforgivingly up at his uncle.
Iroh heaved a deep sigh before daintily setting down his teacup upon its saucer. The sun had just woken him up with its first small rays of dawn, and already the prince was making demands! How was a poor old man supposed to sleep?He had been going over charts of the artic land in the Captain's Quarters whilst enjoying a lovely cup of green tea when his nephew banged the door open, stalked across the room, sat down in the plush leather chair behind the table and spoke those pervious ominous lines. "Ah," Iroh started, picking up a soft gray pencil and wisely ignoring the previous statement. "You are just in time for us to go over the terrain."
"There is a girl," Zuko began again, propping his feet up on the table, effectively scattering the maps and his uncle's hopes of going over them, "Who lives with the tribes of the water benders. I want her."
For the second time in as many minutes, Iroh sighed a very thoughtful sigh. I thought we outgrew this sort of behavior years ago, he thought helplessly. He has not dictated to me like this ever since the air bender disappeared so long ago. Why? It is not like the boy to lose his focus over something as trivial as a girl. He will not even look at half of the women that are lined up back at home, pining and hoping he will glance their way. Why is this one different? Ignoring the thoughts running through his mind, Iroh picked up his teacup and sipped daintily. Then: "It is not our place to take a girl from her homeland. Our quest is simple, Zuko, you know that. It involves the Avatar, not some fancy that you are nurturing at the moment."
Zuko's sherry eyes narrowed. "Last time I checked,I was in charge of this expedition, not you, old man. I'll do what fits my mood, and I'll do it when I want, wherever I want. And I want that girl."
Even Iroh couldn't argue with the cool finality in his nephew's voice. He knew (after countless hours spent by Zuko's side) that when that particular voice was used, he might was well roll over and die before even trying to budge the prince from the subject. "And how would we manage to obtain her?" Iroh asked slowly. "A midnight raid? Genocide, just so we can fulfill your every desire, Prince Zuko? Or perhaps we bypass the killing and just go ahead and kidnap her. Is that what you want? I thought you wanted the Avatar," Iroh scoffed gently, his gnarled old hands reaching out for his teacup. "And that nothing would stand in your way."
A thin smile spread across Zuko's scarred features. "Uncle if I were stupid enough to give up everything for a girl, no matter how stunning a creature she is, we'd both be dead by now. Like everything I plan… there is a method behind this."
"Are you saying you have something else in mind?" The old man asked rather nonchalantly, turning his attention towards the maps his nephew managed to scatter.
"Not something," Zuko answered, his amber eyes glittering with hate. "Someone."
Iroh felt his heart skip a few beats as the free hand holding the map jerked slightly. Still, always the gentleman, Iroh managed to keep the look on his weathered and leathery face just as stoic as always. "The Air Bender?" he asked slowly, with sparse finality, almost if it were too much to hope for. "After all these years… is there finally news of him?"
"Yes," Zuko mused, idly tapping his fingers on the hard iron table. "I think, dear Uncle, that after seven years of searching, we finally have a clue. And the clue is that girl."
Iroh's teacup shook finely with anticipation as he brought it up to his lips. I knew there was something behind the girl! After all, why is one woman suddenly enough to capture his attention? "And, uh, if I may inquire," Iroh considered in return, "how exactly is this girl going to help us?"
"Do you remember, Uncle, that the Avatar had with him a set of cronies?"
A sudden flash of memories came back to the old man. A darkly tanned girl and young boy, both in signature furs and outfits of the water nation, always close to the air bender who had captured so much of their lives. "Is she one of them?" he asked, his voice trembling with the raw adrenaline coursing through his veins.
"She spoke of our dead friend, and of seven years passing since she last saw him. She even referred to him by name. I'll be damned if its not her," he said succinctly.
The fire prince's uncle fingered his chin absently. Seven years of searching... If we take her, and gain her information, we can finally be back on track. Both Zuko and my honor will be restored completely… as much as it breaks my heart, the girl must be obtained, at all costs. I cannot bear to watch my nephew sit in exile from his people any longer. He will find the Avatar, and be back in his father's good graces. At last. "Zuko, I think you've finally found something. And I think its time we set out to 'acquire' this something," Iroh said, picking up the scattered remnants of his maps and tucking them neatly under his arm. "It would be wise to attack before the day is over."
"Ready the men," Zuko began, pushing up from his chair and calmly walking over to wear his sword lay absently in the corner. "We leave at noon."
And as the twenty-three year old prince of the fire nation left his room, he allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction. Yes… he mused darkly, thinking of the stunning and exotic creature he saw earlier that night. He thought of her lovely chocolate brown hair, he thought of her sparkling sapphire eyes, he thought of the way the wind danced and lifted around the long blue cloak she wore that so brought out her finely-grained, delicately tanned skin… he thought of the very feminine body that lurked underneath those heavy, artic clothes. And while he thought of those things, he was shocked at the wave of desire that coursed through him. Why is she consuming me like this? Why is she all I can think about? I've only known about her for a few hours, he thought ruefully to himself. Her beauty is something I've never known before… and now she is within my reach— ripe for the taking. I only have to stretch out my arm to her for her to be mine. Forbiddingly, he shook his head, as it to rid himself of the strange turn his thoughts had taken. I should be thinking about how, after seven long and desperate years, the air bender will be played back into my hands. How curious, that after a long while of not knowing where the Avatar was, the Gods suddenly dealt him the card of a lifetime: a girl who made his body quicken with desire every time his thoughts turned to her, and the man that made his heart lurched every time he thought of how close he was to finally obtaining him. You slipped out of my grip seven years ago, Aang. You will not slip out of it again.
The girl can wait. After all, I have more important matters to attend to than that of some silly woman.
First, last, and in between, there was The Avatar. After all, wasn't that all there ever was?
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That Same Morning
Not Quite so Far and not Quite so Away---------
As the sun burst over the canyon, it decanted out all of its light in a fiery display of deep crimsons and golden yellows that poured over the arid land. Smoldering shadows cast glances towards the cerulean sky as they were born in the dim autumn dawn. A desperate wind would blow across the arid desert land, briefly cooling the patrons that called its empty graces home. The cracked dry land cried out for water, but the shimmering mirages already appearing in the distance offered no hope for the relief of the drought that gripped the desert land.
A young man leaned out his window, his head propped up by and elbow carelessly slung across the windowsill. His dark eyes surveyed the land and its wondrous sunrise, his face devoid of any emotion that could show the thoughts beneath his mahogany eyes. Those shadowy eyes looked down into the city, listening to the pounding of hooves from donkeys against the cobblestone streets, hearing the shrill cries of merchants as they tried to rid themselves of their produce. His eyes settled down upon a group of children playing with a ball in the square. When he heard the infectious giggles of a young girl within the group of children, a small smile danced around the corner of his mouth. He watched the group play with the ball for a little longer, feeling a slight ache in a corner of his heart.
Where did it go? He asked himself, longing to go down and join in the game. Where did my childhood go?
Even as he asked himself that, the answer loomed in the back of his mind. Because you chose to be foolish and save the world. Because you tried to get hold of something you never had. Because you lost everything trying to do that.
The young man sighed deeply, and glanced his room to where a slender wooden staff stood forgotten in the corner. There was a time when that staff was part of him, and there was a time in his life when he and that staff took on the world. It was then that he spent his time saving the world, not foolishly hiding from it. I was something then, wasn't I? The young man asked himself tiredly. I was a part of something bigger than myself. He thought of a two people in particular, a girl with laughing sapphire eyes and a boy who tried to be more man than he could handle.
Katara and Sokka… my old friends. Why did you leave?
He had been on the brink of figuring out who he really was, and then he lost the people he cared about most. All because of one, stupid, thoughtless mistake he had made…
Seven years ago, he thought, heaving a deep sigh. Seven long and painful years. When will I ever forgive myself? It was difficult to think of his old friends. With them came too many memories, too many painful memories. Yet all he had to do was close his eyes, and he was there again, about to go into a fire nation prison, rescue the prisoners, and bring justice to the world as they had so many times before. They had been through the plan so many times it had been ingrained in their brains. Aang would provide the distraction while Katara and Sokka would free the prisoners… Aang would provide the distraction while Katara and Sokka would free the prisoners…. However, anyone knows that the simplest plans had their own ways of going horribly and terribly wrong.
F l a s h b a c k
"Now Aang," a girl with laughing blue eyes said jokingly, "Don't be too hard on them, all right?"
A boy with deep velvet brown eyes giggled, and slapped the girl so hard on the back that she was winded. "Don't worry, Katara! I'll make sure they know I'm there."
"Don't inflate his ego, sis," came the gravely voice of a boy, who could not yet be called a man.
"Sokka," Katara began, looking at him curiously. "All you've done all day is sit by that tree and sulk. Why?"
Sokka's mouth formed a deep downward curve. "I'm not sulking," he said defensively, though something in the way his deep blue eyes were looking at Aang suggested something else. "I'm just thinking."
"Whatever, grumpy pants!" Aang laughed as he let the slits out of a long wooden staff he carried.
"Hey!" Sokka stood up suddenly, and grabbed the boy by his ears. "I'm not grumpy! I just have a bad feeling about this."
"Why?" Aang asked as he twisted free of the boy's strong grip. "We've done this a million times before."
The girl walked over toward her brother and put a small hand on his shoulder. "I know what you mean. I feel it too."
"Then you agree we shouldn't be doing this," Sokka said quickly, searching the eyes of his sister.
"No." Sokka visibly deflated, but his sister pressed onward. " I just said I have a bad feeling too. We owe it to ourselves, and the prisoners. They at least deserve something besides being chained to a wall."
"You guys are crazy," Aang said as he mounted his staff. "We'll get through fine. And we'll get through with the prisoners!"
"Whatever you say," Sokka muttered to himself as he gathered his pack.
"Right, then I'll see both of you in about half an hour!" But, as Aang pushed off from the ground and into the sultry summer air, the one thing he didn't mention was that he felt that strange premonition Sokka and Katara had felt. He chose to ignore it, just as Katara had. After all, feelings got in the way more than they were helpful; he of all people should know that. But what he didn't know, was that when he decided the withhold his haunting fear that something might go wrong, the cost would be extremely high. And that cost would be his two best friends.
…3 Hours Later…
Panting, his heart in his throat, Aang tried to crawl the last few yards out of the prison. Achingly, a brutal hand picked him up by the back of his robes, ruefully dragged him back, and set him roughly on the floor again.
"If you're not careful, Avatar, I might just have to cut off another part of your body," said a deep cruel voice. "And I can assure you you'll miss it a great deal more than your index finger."
This isn't happening, Aang thought brutally to himself, squeezing his eyes shut at the sudden onslaught of pain. How did they know he was coming? How could they have foreseen that? For as soon as Aang appeared within the prison, he had been ambushed, knocked out cold, and dragged to this Godforsaken area of the prison. He was close enough to see the gates, but every time he tried to escape the warden would drag him back and cause a new method of pain for punishment. Already, he had lost a finger; he had been cut, kicked, and beaten until he couldn't breathe for the air that caught in his chest. He lied there for what seemed like hours… the grisly warden keeping watch over him until the man who was to take him to the Fire Lord arrived. And as he lay there, beaten, bruised, and defeated, he couldn't help but feel alone and lost. All he could do was pray that Sokka and Katara had made it out alive.
Just then, his hopes were shattered as he heard the heavy footsteps of two men coming up to the warden and their urgent whispers.
"Ah. If you'll forgive me, Avatar, I do believe we have some guests. A boy and a girl. Friends of yours?"
Uncontrollably, Aang felt deep anger course through his veins. If they touch Katara… if they even think of hurting Sokka… Uselessly, his grunts of anger were stifled by the gag tied around his head.
"I see we've hit a nerve! Well then, I'll be sure they get a nice, warm welcome. Probably just as welcoming as yours! Sakoto, Yakuri, make sure this one does not get away." Cackling, the warden set off with his men, leaving two burley soldiers left alone with Aang.
Aang's furry grew and grew until he was almost blind with it. He bare the thought of his own failure… but his failure causing his friend's pain was just something that was simply too much to endure. Suddenly, he was himself no longer, his pain seemed to melt away as his eyes and tattoos glowed with the rage and rampant Avatar state.
The guards, caught off unawares dropped their weapons, made stupid with fear. Blasting them away with a jet of air, Aang rose up into the wind on a pillow of air…
E n d F l a s h b a c k
And that was all Aang remembered.
His next memory was waking up in the tent of a crinkled, elderly woman, who had tended to his wounds as he had lain unconscious for weeks. She had found him on the side of the road, bleeding to death and buried among the ruined rubble of the prison. His first question was if he had seen a girl and a young man among the ruins, but the old woman only cackled and said:
"Boy, I have only two ears and two eyes and two hands… there were too many bodies for me to examine them one by one."
He nursed that thought, that maybe somehow his friends were still alive, but after years of searching and years of his searching yielding nothing, he finally had to accept the cold and desolate truth: his friends were gone.
All because of him.
Wordlessly, Aang spread open his left palm and looked at his four-fingered palm. A finger in exchange for their lives… a few hours pain in exchange for something he'd never see again…
He had left and moved as far away from that spot as possible, taken side routs and roads and tried to burry his pain in traveling. He saw the world, but he never saw his friends again. And every time he stopped running, the pain and memories were always there, lurking in the shadows of his mind's eye.
Seven Years.
Trying to forget his raging past, Aang slid off of the windowsill. It was time to leave this place. He'd spent a few months borrowed time living up in this small, earth-nation town. Where he'd find himself next, even he did not know. His past had finally caught up with him here, and all he knew was that it was time to go.
Gathering up his few belongings, Aang shouldered his pack and picked up his scarred wooden staff. He would go wherever the wind blew him, because that was his new life. He had stopped chasing the dream of saving the world so long ago because even he had to face the truth:
If he couldn't even save the ones he cared about, how could he save the world?
Without even a glance over his shoulder, Aang open the door to the hallway, and shut the one that led to where he had spent his life for these past few months.
Open one door, close another… isn't that all my life is? With a harsh smile on his face and he hopped down the stairs two by two, Aang left the town.
Saeka324: Hm. Sorry that after one year that's all I have to show. But I promise on my right as an authoress, that the next chapter will come in no more than two weeks. Cross my heart and hope to die! And if I break that promise… well obviously I die or something. So Thank you for your time and I assure you you will never have to wait so long again! Please keep reading my story!
I hope you're not confused anymore, cause that was a really boring chapter of me just regurgitating plot. If you are, please, don't hesitate to tell me.
And…. Review! Review! Reivew!… I'm done now.