Okay, lil note to all those that I have read comments from: I am SOO happy about the response in so little time! Guess what? I will be updating EVERY DAY(w/the exeption of Sunday CHURCH PEOPLE! its a cool place to be!)! Plus I have alread began working and finished one chptr of the New Series, The Story of an Empress(ZUTARA), which will NOT be posted until I have reviewed it a little and finished another two chapters to keep you interested. I might also post some Already Finished Work, really good little drabbles I've come up with. By the way, tell me if you can think of a better title than the one I gave for the New story... I could use a little imagination w/ it! Thank ya! Read the Author note the bottom! Godsspiker!
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The last Airbender
Chapter Six: "Grandchildren, Zuko. Grandchildren!"
When Amber had finally gotten the courage to come out of her room, she was greeting by an overjoyed Uncle Iroh. She suspected he knew something she didn't, and prompted him to tell her. He simply grinned wide and began humming to himself. She lowered her eyes and tried desperately not to blush when The Prince walked up to her. He shoved the enormous umbrella in her hands and turned away. Uncle noted that there wasn't a spark between them, much less a fizzle and he made his frustration know as he walked beside Amber through the shops.
"What was that!" he stormed, hiding in his own raincloud of thoughts as he childishly crossed his arms over his chest. She shrugged.
"Uncle, I have no idea what you're talking about." she answered. He floundered with words for a moment, then finally spat it out.
"What happened when Zuko went into your room?" he demanded. When Prince Zuko overheard him speaking, his eyes widened. He left Cassidy with the gaurds and he turned toward Amber and Uncle Iroh. He grabbed his uncle's arm and walked a few feet away, brushing past her roughly.
"There they are!" Katara hissed through the bushes. She shrank back as Zuko and Iroh made their way away from the group to talk privately. They stood a few feet from the three friends' hiding place.
"Uncle, what happened is none of your business!" she heard Zuko growl to the old man. The old General made a face.
"Come now, Zuko! You must have children sometime in your life!" he said almost scoldingly. Prince Zuko's face went dark. Katara stopped and blinked.
"Is he blushing?" chuckled Aang right beside her, who was just as amazed as her when they realized that the stubborn Prince was indeed blushing.
"Uncle!" he almost howled. "If I do have children, she would be the last woman to carry them!" His uncle harrumphed loudly.
"I'm sure your children may inherit a bit of wisdom from you. There may still be hope for their poor conssiounce yet." His Uncle replied, turning to rejoin the group.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zuko shouted after him as the walked back toward the dock. Sokka, Aang and Katara exchanged glances.
"Okay, we might want to hurry up with that rescue thing. I don't think she's all that safe on the ship." Sokka said, sinking back further into the bushes.
A few hours later, Amber was training
with General Iroh. She panted as she tried to do the firewall Iroh
noticed her mistake. Unfortunately, Zuko had just walked up the
stairs and was smirking. She stopped and rested for a moment, glaring
at Zuko. The Prince walked over and patted the tired General on the
shoulder.
"I'll take it from here, Uncle Iroh." He said,
removing his armour. He stretched quickly, then stood infront of her.
Amber rolled her eyes and bowed to Zuko.
"Repeat the basic sets." He said, arms behind his back. She did them the best she could, swerving and moving with what little grace she had. He shook his head, making her stop and blast fire at his head. A bead of sweat worked it's way down her head as she stood motionless in her defensive position. Prince Zuko had simple moved his head a little to the left and let the flames rush by his head, then he walked to her.
"Stay still." he commanded. She did, allowing him to reposition her body. He moved her feet farther from one another, then had her widen her stance. Then he repeated the move, pushing the flames from the core of his body through his fists as he roared down on an imaginary opponent.
"Don't be afraid to yell a little. Let the heat well up into your body," he said, positioning himself beside her and bringing his body in, " then let it be released like a wave." he said as he thrust his foot forward, sending a shower of sparks ahead of him. She imitated the move with him. Iroh was watching with quiet humor as they trained. At first, they weren't in sync, totally out of proportion with one another, but it suddenly changed before the general's eyes. As they came closer to move, they suddenly melded together, bending in mirrored movements of passion as the fire-bended together. He watched in fascination as she copied his every movement, blending into his form as they continued the sharp fiery dance, and once the simple set was finished, Iroh stood and clapped.
"Fantastic!" he boasted. Prince Zuko knew the look on his Uncle's face. He wiped his forhead with a towel that a servant had handed him.
"Hardly." Zuko countered. "She was clumsy and disorganized. That's why I did it with her."
That was the final straw. Okay, past the final straw. Amber's hands clenched and she walked up behind him and landed a good smack on the back of Prince Zuko's head. Surprised and angry, he turned with fire swirling around his knuckles.
"That's what I do to studs that think they're all that!" She shouted in frustration, clenching her fingers. She then pointed at Zuko and with a snarl, she said " I have just about had it up to here with all your crud! So AUTA MIQULA ORQU, you little weasel!"
Amber breathed heavily trying to find
something better to say, find someway she could further insult him.
Her face lit with fire again as she glared at him, daggers of flames
spewing from her clenched hands.
"I challenge You to an Agni
Kai!" she bellowed after a moment of weighing pros and cons.
Prince Zuko blinked, staring at her to be sure she was serious. She turned and walked a few feet away and kneeled as was tradition. Agni, what is she doing! Uncle Iroh thought, alarmed. He was about to go to her and explain what she'd just done when his nephew's arm stopped him. Iroh noticed the smirk on Zuko's face and became even more distressed.
"Zuko, you don't intend to hurt the girl, do you?" He asked his nephew cautiously. The Prince smiled.
"Not much." he growled as he walked away and kneeled.
Amber was so angry. The flames in her heart were barely contained as she readied herself for battle. She had only remembered seeing one or two Agni Kais on the television show, but she got the basic idea. She rose after a few seconds of quick meditation, and turned to face her opponent, who was waiting in readiness for her. She got into a defensive position and remembered his training and the Agni Kai with Zhao in the episode that Aang had discovered Fire Nation troops in the Air Temple. She decided to set up a high level of defense and beware of sparks on the ground. Her hunch was correct, and as Zuko did a basic firebending blast with his feet to break her root, she jumped and curled into a ball, then poured the anger that was pent inside by kicking her foot forward. Zuko's face twisted into a panicked look before she rammed into him with her flamming foot and landed hard on his stomach with a foot on his neck. Unfortunately she lost her balance and fell forward. She rolled and twisted around into another pose, ready for the Prince. He had shaken off the hit and was much more cautious about how he attacked her. He tested her deffensive manuvers, finding them honed. There was a moment of tense silence between them, and when Prince Zuko suddenly dropped his gaurd, she fell for the bait. She lightened her muscles and relaxed a bit, straightening out of her deffensive posture. Zuko quickly knelt and brought his arms together, then flung the left arm up as he slid his feet back together, releasing a curved wave that flew towards her. She spun, knowing the flames would pass her by if she let them. The Prince drop kicked another ferocious wave of fire in her direction, which she anticipated and jumped. They stood a few feet apart and let it all loose. Zuko punched left, right and kicked, jets of flames streaming from his body. She dodged to the right, left, and jumped, returning with right-handed punch, high kick, sliding kick, and another punch. He quickly dodged left, right, flung himself onto the deck and then pushed hard up, bringing his body just inches above the flames below him and landed just after they passed. They both punched their right arms forward, suddenly inches away from one another. Amber could feel the Prince's warm breath on her face, and the Prince could feel the burning of her gaze in his eyes. Everything stood still for what seemed like forever as they both stared one-another down. The flames in their fingers died, yet there was still a heat there that niether of them understood. Prince Zuko looked in her eyes for a moment longer, almost softening his gaze, but he quickly took a few steps back and bowed to her.
"I call a truce." he said loudly. "Will you yeild?"
Amber stood for a moment, but there was still fire in her eyes as she attacked him once again. She knocked him down as she had the first time, but this time she kept her balance and put more pressure on his throat.
"I won't take a truce if it means so little." she answered. "Surrender now, or I'll leave another burn somewhere else on you body!" Zuko felt the pressure on his neck increase slightly. He put his hands up in surrender, and mumbled something. She pushed harder into his throat.
"Louder." she commanded. He muttered it a little louder so you could at least hear the words "honor" and "yours".
"Louder! I want you to stew in the humiliation you forced on me yesterday." She demanded again. Zuko gritted his teeth, but the look on her face threatened death if he didn't say it.
"The honor is your's." He finally choked out. She removed herself from the Prince the moment he said it and bowed in his direction.
"Thank you." she said quietly. She glanced in Uncle Iroh's direction, who looked stunned, but relieved that the fighting was over. She chuckled.
"You didn't think I could do it?" she asked as she walked toward him. He smiled and fanned himself with a bright yellow fan.
"Well, you see, when Prince Zuko fought with-" she cut him off midsentence and finished the statemeant.
"With Admiral Zhao he won because of determination and need for honor. I know that. He wasn't as pressured to do the same here, so he didn't fight with as much passion as that last time." she answered with a grin on her face. Uncle Iroh shook his head and looked at Prince Zuko, who was rubbing his sore throat and storming towards the stairs to go below deck, then leaned close to her ear.
"But you would think he would have learned from that the first time you did it." he whispered. Amber held a thoughtful look on her face.
"I know, thats what confuses me. Why would he have made it so easy?" she said. Uncle Iroh's eye widened a bit, but he kept his knowledge to himself by removing the look on his face.
"You have me. Perhaps we will discuss it one day for lunch? Maybe today!" he exclaimed as he led her over to the table. She laughed at the food that had already been set out.
"We were able to cook quite well with the additional flames from your fighting." he said with a smile in his eyes. "The shish kebabs turned out nicely!"
Amber laughed and sat with him to eat.
Cassidy took her rage out on the nearest perfume bottle. She threw it at the wall beside Prince Zuko's head, who almost cringed.
"I'm sick of this place!" She screamed in rage. "I want my clothes, I want my car and I want my life back!" Her white-knuckled fists shook as she stormed around the room and pouted. The Prince was disgusted by her lack of self-control.
"I can bye you a new carraige when we get to the Firenation, and if the Fire Lord accepts you, you'll have the finest gowns and a greatly improved social life." he said over his shoulder. He heard another scream erupt from her mouth behind him and turned with a raised his eyebrow.
"I don't want them! I want miniskirts and college guys! I want lipgloss, mustangs..." she kept rambling on about different things, all of them sounding strange and foreign. He had finally had enough of it and turned to leave.
"I'm not finished with you!" she shouted, grabbing his shoulder. He spun and slapped her, causing her to stumble back and hold her cheek, eyes widened with shock. Her mouth worked, trying to find words.
"How could you!" she gasped. Regret suddenly filled him and he went to her. He tried to cover her cheek, but she pushed him away and pulled back. Her sweet face suddenly twisted into a horrible sneer as she spoke.
"You'll regret that, Zuko!" she spat, shoving him out of her room and slamming the door in his face before he could put a hand in to stop it. She locked it quickly and slumped against the back of ther door. A strand of blonde hair fell in her face, but rather than fuss over it, her eyes glazed with an emotion that she had never felt before. She laughed almost maniacly as her hands spread over the door.
"You've just given me my excuse to mutinize your sorry-" a hand touched her shoulder, making her jump. Her eyes put on a mask and a sweet smile was back on her face as she looked into the eyes of Mo Chi, the young gaurd she had been romancing. He gave her a kiss, then held her tight, grimacing at the red mark.
"Did the Prince do this to you?" he asked in disgust. She nodded, her eyes filling with fake tears as she milked his emotions.
"Why?" She looked at him with puppy eyes.
"Because I wouldn't do as he pleased." she said, seemingly shivering. Mo Chi looked on her face lovingly and held her tight.
"He is truly a monster if he wanted to make you do such things." he said, anger riding his voice. She closed her eyes and leaned into him, so he wouldn't notice the devilish smile on her face.
Author's note: Ah ha... Okay, cookies to anyone who can figure this out and leaves a comment on what happens next, and to whoever can tell me WHAT LANGUAGE SHE CURSES HIM IN (this is an innocent cursePROMISE(Again, thanks Ziggy! I can't believe I missed those little details!)). If you guess right, I'll happily send you a cookie. Jenae, the romance thing, yeah, its coming along... You just have to let the plot unfold. And everyone who is wondering about what the devil happened to Aang, Sokka and Katara, he he he... Just wait. I can't wait for this next chapter to unfold. By the way, it is never, NEVER alright to hit a woman, or a girl. She's such a baby though! W/love if you leave comments, Godsspiker!
