Here is what you've been waiting for. Sorry it took so long. I'm way too much into soccer, too many practices! So yeah, read and tell me what you think please .
It was something he knew, but something he wished he didn't know. The war was something that had gone on too long. This war would never end no matter how much he wanted it to. For 175 years the Fire Nation tried to rule over the world, destroying anything that tried to stand in its way. Over and over again, each ruler passed this task down to their sons and now it was his turn. He was the one that needed to end this war. There were so few villages left; including the village she came from. He knew he would never find it with out the information she with held. He wasn't going to get the information from her, he could tell. He had sent in his top interrogators to question her. They had never come back to him empty handed before but this time, each and every one of them did just that. They all fell for her game. It was her game of strong mental strength and she always won. If you couldn't hide your emotions – you lost, if you couldn't figure her out – you lost, and if you didn't pay attention to her game, even for less than a second – you lost. She was relentless and she would never give up, he knew this. She was some what like him. She had her beliefs and standards and demanded nothing less. She would deal with people who treated her like she was low; he, however, chose to do nothing. He constantly took in the criticism and tried to be the best he could. He didn't want to disappoint his father again. He wasn't even sure as to if he even gained his respect back. How could he expect his people to respect him if his own father didn't? Maybe it was his fault, maybe he was just a failure. He was neither a prodigy nor a flawless prince. He had morals and used to stand up for them. Now, though, he simply stepped aside, following the path his elders had paved out before him.
He was going to question her, he had too. The only way to get a job done right was to do it yourself. He wasn't going to let her get away with playing her games or hiding her secretes. He had to know! It wasn't a matter if it was right or wrong. He had to fulfill his duties as Emperor of the Fire Nation. Morals didn't matter in his position, but the wants and needs of greedy Nobels and citizens. The scar reminded him of his place. He saw it now every time he passed a mirror and looked at a vase.
"Emperor Zuko"
He stopped and he turned around until he came face to face with his uncle.
"Yes uncle?" he said a little bit annoyed. It was late and he had just come back from a war meeting but he had to talk to her now. It was the only spare time he had to question her himself.
"Let your men deal with her, you need your rest and she's a bundle to handle".
"Why would you think she is beyond my control?" He said this with a voice that was hollow and thick. His uncle was the only person that ever believed in him. Without his uncle's faith, he wouldn't have gotten as far as he was now.
The old and plump man gave a shy smile before replying "I questioned her myself".
A long and harsh silence loomed in the air. The Emperor stared at his elder with not only disbelief but with some curiosity as well.
Maybe she had talked to him he, thought, maybe she told him something about her village.
With an almost eager voice he said "what did she say? Did she tell you anything at all? What questions did she respond ---"
He was cut off with a large chuckle from the joyous and round old man. "Emperor Zuko hold on just a minute!" The large man was still chuckling but soon caught enough of his breathe to reply to the temperamental Emperor. "She is quite a talker once you get her going. She has many ideas about the war and she's a brilliant young lady."
"So what did you find out from her?"
"Actually, I really didn't get that much information from her but I did get to know her some. Emperor Zuko, if your going to go in and question her, maybe you should take a chance to get to know her before you ask her questions. Maybe then you will understand her behavior better and who she truly is."
His uncle, no matter how annoying he could be, was always wise and thought twice about situations and never ran into things to fast. He had always looked to his uncle for support and his uncle was always there to guide him through the darkness. He never led him astray and he knew he had thought about this girl for many nights. He would occasionally run into his uncle and would tell him about all the trouble she was giving him. His uncle had always told him to rest his head and that he was thinking to hard but he still continued with his daily obsession about trying to find away to make her tell him information. It had become a routine, a way to gain back honor and respect from his nation. He wasn't going to let her, a water-bending peasant, ruin that. He turned around to leave his uncle and to continue with the mission he had been on but the old mans voice stopped him.
"She is busy right now nephew. I'm letting her bathe and giving her new clothes to wear. The cells we keep her in are filthy and 2 baths a week were not enough. Also, the clothes she was wearing were becoming disgusting and I didn't want her to feel unwelcome. After all, she will be here with us for some time."
He had to control his sudden urge to scream out in anger. Why in the world was his uncle being so kind to a prisoner of the Fire Nation? Anyways, all she was was an annoying little girl that was keeping him back from ruling the entire world.
"I suggest you talk to her in the morning when you know she is done bathing and is comfortable in her new clothes."
The young man simply stared at the older one with nothing but pure hatred etched upon his face. He walked straight past his uncle and headed toward his own room. He was going to talk to her tomorrow for sure.
After the man watched his nephew storm off with frustration, he headed towards his own room. He followed his nightly routine and as he lay down on his bed, he started to think about the conversation he had with the girl. Constantly reviewing and remembering every word she had said to him.
What interested her? What could be of benefit to my nephew?
As he reviewed the dialogue that went between him and the girl, he started to realize her gestures and the way she would act all reflected her emotions. At the beginning, when he was talking to her, she never looked him in the eyed and had an annoying look plastered onto her face. As the conversation grew longer, she began to feel more comfortable with him. She looked him in the eyes sometimes, would laugh at funny things he said, and would answer some of his questions. When he started to question about things she found personal, she started to become impatient and avoided him completely. So this lead to the things she was interested in. When he asked her about her beliefs, her hopes, her faiths, and her dreams, she became almost enthusiastic to answer.
She never did directly answer the question but she did talk about it randomly and would go on and off the topic. She told him about the moon and the water being her escape from all reality. How she dreamed anytime she was alone and how her hope ran low but she also told him how the smallest things provided her with it. She said she had faith in herself, faith to get her through her life but nothing more. She was going to fight to end this was, even to the death. She also told him, if for one magical chance the war was ended, she would have nothing left to live for. She would be as good as dead.
He had to admire the girl, Katara, for her strength. Not that many people were able to build an imaginary world that was filled with peace inside their head. She seemed to take flight to it often considering the way she spoke. She seemed like a dreamer, someone that had high hopes, but new that they were all fantasies. She seemed to block that out though, she blocked out all emotion. It was the only way she made herself feel strong. It was the only way she made herself look powerful in her own eyes. She didn't go into much detail but she had told him the death of her family as well. She hoped they forgave her, for all the problems she had created in the past. She tried desperately to make it up now. She seemed to be so caught up in her past that she could hardly see what was in front of her.
The thing that made it hard to know her was: she was completely aware of her flaws. She was aware of what he knew about how she reacted to things, the things that triggered her interest, and the things that upset her. She also knew that there was so much for him to learn. She was a maze that was set in the dark. Once you were in it, you couldn't get out. She was the moon, your only light. She guided you were she wanted you to go, told you things she wanted you to know. She was in charge when it came to her life and the things she let you know. She thought carefully and always looked at all possibilities before jumping into something. She was a mixture of things. She was a jungle and everyone else was a trespasser. She never let anyone into her life and it would take a lot of time and patience to actually get to find her out. You could probably even take a lifetime and not even get to know half of her; she kept everything so locked up.
She had a visit from the kind old man that was the Emperors uncle and he had told her that later on she would be getting a visit from the Emperor himself. The man, Iroh as she was asked to call him, carried on a lovely conversation with her and told her that he might bend a few rules to let her be able to walk around in the gardens. He told her that she had lost a lot of weight since being caught and that she needed to get some fresh air every once in a while and get out of the filthy and dusty cell. She had to agree with him completely. The food they fed her was a little on the disturbing side and she preferred to not eat it. She also missed the fresh air terribly and she missed the ocean with all her heart. She positively despised this place with a heated passion. She for once, felt clean. The bath Iroh had let her have and the clothes he had given her were an unexpected treat. She couldn't believe that this man was so nice to her, not to mention, the uncle of the hot tempered Emperor who was just a boy. She had seriously hoped as well that she would be able to walk in the gardens. It wasn't like she could really harm anything there except a few precious lilies. She hoped the Emperor would seriously leave her alone today. She didn't want to ruin the semi happy mood she was in.
Happiness was usually a scarce thing to have in the village and it became even harder to find in a prison.
She heard her door unlock so she looked away from the wall she had been staring at and found her self gazing into golden eyes. Chris came in holding her some food and set it on her bed.
"You need to eat this time."
"It's disgusting."
"You'll starve."
"As long as I don't have to eat it."
"Then I won't let you out into the gardens."
When he said that everything just stopped and her heart started to flutter enthusiastically. "Wait, if I eat this, you'll let me go outside?"
"Yes."
"In the gardens?"
"Yes."
"You promise?"
"It was orders, but you have to eat and I have to escort you at all times. You can not bend and you can not be more that 10 feet away from me. You can not---"
"Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah! I get it. By the time you a quarter way through the list I'll be done eating."
She started to slowly slide and chew the food into her mouth.
He was about to turn and leave but her voice stopped him.
"Who has the Emperor assigned to question me today?" Her voice was sarcastic and had the slightest hint of boredom.
"I'm not sure" He replied stiffly. She nodded her head but sent him a questioning glance.
He then turned around and left her cell after he locked her door.
He had been sitting in this meeting for about two hours now and they still hadn't changed the subject. All the men in his council had found out about the girl. They were all questioning him what he was doing with her, what information she had given and now there were arguing over the issue of letting the public know at a ball that was coming up. They wanted to show her to the crowd as proof as well, to let the people know the war would be over soon. He disagreed completely. He knew if they did that, it would be twice as hard to get information out of her. She made people treat her with some respect, at this party; she would not be given any. These men, that were three times his age, did not seem to understand this. No matter how many times he told them and explained to them the type of person she was, they didn't want to listen. They still thought of him as just a little child who was lost and confused. They would stare at his scar, reminding him of how stupid he was and showing him that this girl he had in his prison, was just another sign of his stupidity. While one of the war lords was arguing over something a great idea suddenly popped into his head.
"Excuse, but I have a question to make and I would like you to answer." Everyone sent questioning glares toward the boy. He had never asked such a request and many of the people found it suspicious.
"You do not believe me when I say that she does not give information out to anyone. You do not believe me when I say she figures you out before you even know her name. You do not believe me at anything I say. So I have made up a plan. Each day a new member of the council is allowed to question her. You have as much time as you want but let me caution you. She will figure you out quickly and she will start to understand what I am trying to do. She will become harder and harder to question. It's up to you. This is you decision, not mine."
The men looked at each other, surprised at how weird the Emperor was acting. He was allowing them to make a decision amongst themselves? After an hour or so, they came to a conclusion. Yes, they would be questioning her and today it would be Chaun's turn. With that the council disassembled and went there separate ways. He was going to let them see how difficult she was.
Chris wasn't allowed to tell her the information the Emperor himself had given him. He had been told about the war meeting and about the agreement that was made amongst the council. He agreed whole heartedly with the Emperor that she would greatly dislike what they were trying to do; questioning her and presenting her to a ball. He seriously hoped she didn't find out, it would make life a living nightmare for the Emperor. She hated his guts already; imagine how much worse it would become. After she was finished eating, Chaun would come in to question her. Once the interrogation was over, which was expected to last until sunset and not to mention the fact that the interrogation was set to start two minutes before the sunset, she would be free to walk around the gardens. Once she had enough alone time in the gardens, the Emperor would take Chris's place and try to get to know the girl. It seemed a bit questionable at first but once Chris knew why he was doing this and about the information it my give him, he agreed completely. The plan just might work if played out correctly.
A man of great size was brought into her cell. A cocky smile was in carved into his face and she just had a feeling something was going on. He did not look like the normal interrogators that had come in to question her day after day. He looked wealthier by the close he wore and the way he just presented himself. She immediately decided she didn't like this man and was going to make his life a living nightmare and have so much fun doing it.
She watched as he looked her up and down searching for something. She didn't move but sat in her bed like a statue. She didn't like this man at all. The minute he opened his mouth to say something, her neutral face sent him daggers with her eyes which stopped the man from talking. He looked at her strangely. He didn't know why she was acting this way. Maybe this was the behavior the Emperor was talking about.
He started to advance toward her until she gave him another death glare. He could have sworn her eyes were just begging him to get closer so she could smash his head against the side of her bed or against the metal bars that kept her inside the disturbing cell. He started to look her up and down again but her words caused him to jump.
"Are you just going to stare at me like a dumbfounded fool or are you going to start questioning me?"
Her ice tone was harsh and he didn't like the way she was disrespecting him. He was going to put her in her place.
Using an almost same tone as she had used before he said "I will be asking the questions, do not question me!"
He was about to start talking again but her ice voice came in before his.
"Then ask them."
Her voice was straight and to the point with the slightest hint of sarcasm. He hadn't necessarily expected a reply from her. No one had ever acted that way to him before.
"You need to watch—"
"Watch what?" her voice matched her face and appearance, innocent, but he knew she was trying to get at him.
He had tried so hard to yell at her and to frighten her but all she did was reply back to him in a calm but harsh tone. Her words thought out carefully and triggered even more of the fire in him. He couldn't take it anymore. He needed to get away from this thing so he didn't set it on fire. Neither the Emperor nor the council would be pleased with that. With in minutes he left the creature with a trail of smoke following him down the halls.
Chris walked into the room and gave her a look. She had a soft and innocent plastered on his face. He couldn't help but laugh a little, she was definitely something. He nodded towards her and she knew what that meant; that signal was her o.k. sign to walk in the gardens. She gladly let Chris guide her towards the beautifully green garden. Inside her heart, she was beyond enthusiastic but her face gave no sign of it.
The Emperor heard a knock on his study door so he acknowledged the person and told them to come in. A young messenger boy appeared before him with a scared look plastered on his face. He stuttered through every word and sentence but when he was finally done speaking, the Emperor got the ad gist as to what he was trying to say. The girl was now in the gardens, this meant it was his time to talk to her; it was his time to know her, and his time to destroy her.
Sorry it took so long but soccer is killing me...sorry. Please Review D
