Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The last Airbender
Chapter Nine:Firey Beauty and the Flaming Beast
Amber wanted to glare at him, but her feelings were getting in the way.
"You... I..." She stuttered. Tears that she didn't understand began to well up into her eyes. She growled at them and squeezed her eyes shut and was tempted to slap him. Prince Zuko had seen that look before, and it was when she had suddenly burst into tears. She looked up at Zuko with a dignified face and lifted her chin.
"If that's what you want."she ground through her teeth. Then she resisted the strong urge to hit him, and walked to the door. Once she was safely on the other side, she allowed the tears formed in her eyes to spill over onto her cheeks. She just let the tears slip down her face as she picked up the lovely kimono away from her feet to run back to her cold cell.
The Prince looked coldly in Zhao's direction, who was smirking at his masterful work. He went past him roughly, knocking the Admiral into the table beside him as he went after the young woman. He asked the guard outside the door which way she went, and jogged in that direction.
She hit one of the guards outside her cell, giving them an immeadiate reason to put her in the cell. They tossed her in roughly, whether she was wearing an expensive kimono or not. She hit the floor hard, but was in such low spirits that when she picked herself up, she could hardly move into close right corner. She drew in a breath and let it out slowly. You should've expected this! She thought to herself, mentally cursing. It wasn't going to be some Cinderella story! You are so pathetic! She began doing basic firebending sets, one after another, gliding smoothly from set, into the next. The heat was unbearable inside the room, so she removed the outer robe and stayed in the undergarments. She continued the bending, smoothly restarting the first set. The Prince looked into the window and saw the passionate bending, and when he touched the door, he felt the warmth from the bending beginning to take its toll. She had undressed and was in her undergarments, but even then it was a wonder she could stand the heat. He had the guards open the door for him, and then put their hands up to ward off the sudden wave of heat. She saw him and anger burned in her eyes. She tried to do a quick clean fire wave, and stumbled through the motions as her emotions got in the way again. Prince Zuko easily avoided it, seperating the wave of fire and raising a brow. He motioned for the guards to close the door, and he began to remove his armour.
"What do you think you're doing!" she demanded, not willing to be made a fool again. He smirked in her direction and threw the armour in the corner atop her silk kimono.
"If I want you to attack me to insult me, I want to at least make it right." he answered, smiling. She almost gaped at his nonchallant smile. Rage overtook her.
"So you think I'm not even a good enough bender for you? Is that it? Perhaps I just haven't layed it on thick enough and beat you hard enough to make you take it back?" She sneered, throwing a wave of flames in his direction. He sliced through them and sent a fireball hurtling at her head.
"I'm trying to help you!" he
yelled over the flames, sweat beginning to pour down his body. She
grunted as she spun and sliced down at him with her foot.
"Help
me what, decide what to do after Zhao takes me?" she gave a fake
laugh. "Please, I've seen him in action. He's just as confident
as you, just a little older." Amber dodged another punch and
kick. She was suddenly slammed against the far wall. She rammed into
him with both her feet and she began the wall of flames as Iroh had
taught her through the tears that had begun to fall. Her wall
thickened further to keep him on the other side, the temperature
rising even hotter making every tear that fell sizzle and evaporate.
The Prince began slicing through the wall of flames and when he
reached the other side he saw her on her knees with her hands up,
sweat rolling down her temples, and tears rolling down her cheeks. He
kneeled took her hands in his, entwining their fingers. She rebelled,
gasping for breath and pushing him away.
"I won't take... Your pity." she sobbed. He wiped the tears off of her face and held it in his hands like a precious jewel.
"It's not pity." he answered.
"Please..." she cried softly. He leaned over and grabbed her kimono's outer robe, slipped it over her shoulders and took her into his arms.
"Please..." she whispered. He picked her up.
"please..." she mumbled, then her strength gave out and she went unconscious. The Prince removed her unconscious form from the cell and excused the guards.
He didn't meet anyone as he went to his room. Nobody noticed as a servant came in with a cot and out with nothing. Nobody noticed the guards were gone. Nobody noticed anything until the next morning.
Amber drew in a breath and tried to choke out a scream as a firey dragon devoured her. She shrieked and sat straight up in bed. Wait... Bed? she thought. There isn't a bed in my cell. Her thoughts suddenly flew to all the fanfiction she had read on and she blushed. She felt for any unwanted limbs in the bed. She was relieved when she felt nothing, but almost screamed when a hand placed itself on her shoulder. Whoever it was must have predicted this, because they placed their hand over her mouth.
"If you scream my guards will be talking about it for months." Zuko's familiar voice said. She blushed even deeper, wondering if the predictions of Zuko by Outsane would've been right. She tensed at the thought. The Prince must have realized what she was thinking.
"Don't worry, I didn't touch you." he assured her. She relaxed a little, but tensed again when she heard someone sit on the bed she was laying on.
"If I wanted to ravish you, I would've so by now, and you wouldn't have gotten that choice." he said in the dark. He suddenly firebended, lighting candles on the far end of his room and revealing he was only wearing a pair of pajama pants.
"You should get some more rest. It's the middle of the night." he said. Before he got up, he hesitated, but worked up the courage and took her chin. His eyes asked, and she answered.
"Yes." she whispered against his already close mouth, and allowed him to give her a gentle kiss. He drew back, lips parted and eyes still closed. Amber had opened her eyes and was looking at the Prince's blissful look. When he opened his eyes, they looked at one another for a long moment. Zuko rose and blew the candles out on the other side of the room, lighting the way to his cot that was placed just above the head of the bed she was laying on. He threw back the covers and lay on the cot, and just as he was about to fall asleep, he felt a soft hand touch his brow. He took it and planted a gentle kiss on the back of it, grasping it tightly, then laying their hands close to his forehead.
Uncle Iroh had his ear planted on the door. The moment he saw the guards were gone and noted that the girl was gone, he had stormed into Admiral Zhao's room. Fortunately, he was not with Amber. He backed out of the room with a blush all over his face. He quickly exited and went straight to Zuko's room. He stayed just around the corner and watched as a servant knocked twice, paused, then knocked another three times with a cot. The Prince answered the door, and for a fleeting second, Iroh had seen someone else in the Prince's bed. Curious, but not wanting to invade his privacy publicly, Uncle Iroh had lodged himself outside the bedroom door, hoping for hints of the possibility of grandchildren. He thought he heard something, and leaned forward, only to fall into the room as the Prince himself opened the door. His surprise was just as quick as his Uncle's.
"What are you doing!" Zuko hissed, closing the door behind him.
"Oh nothing, nephew. Just making sure that, well, you know I strongly desire grandchildren." he said with a grin plastered all over his face. Prince Zuko felt heat creeping into his cheeks.
"Uncle, I assure you that unless we marry, you won't be seeing grandchildren." he answered through his teeth. "Until then, I suggest you stay away from my room." Uncle Iroh frowned and stormed away. Prince Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose and went to the kitchen to get a drink of water.
Aang had grabbed the shirt collar of the vendor he was talking to. His bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep the night before showed his angering fatigue.
"If you don't tell me where that ship was going, I'm gonna-" he yelled boyishly. Katara grabbed his shoulder and smiled apologetically to the vendor.
"Aang, I think we should go now." she said quietly, directing him away from the vendor and back to the woods where Appa and Sokka were waiting.
Author's note: HHHHHAAAAAAA! Okay for what this makes up in length, it totally make up for in action/romance. Dude, you had to have loved it! I worked butt off on it. I have been stumbling through the last few chapters, and this is a big break! Okay, I just have a few ideas for some new fanfiction. Write in to tell me which I should do:
1: Teen Titans: Raven somehow finds herself in a pickle with Red X.(I've already sent a copy of Chptr 1 to my co-writer Jenae... She says its better than Story of an Emress!)
2: Avatar: The Last Airbender: Zhao's true story, why he is the way he is!
3: Code: LYOKO: A mysterious young man from the Americas has joined the Kadic Academy... And gets a little too involved!
So enjoy it ladies and gentlemen! I love you Jenae! Godsspiker! NOTE: KUDOS TO OUTSANE FOR COOL FANFICTION Titled Superstition!
