I'm baaaaack...

I finally finished uploading all the chapters I wanted to change and now I am uploading a whole new one. I hope you all enjoy this. Please review my little friends, I love you all.

A whole other day passed and Katara was stumped. How was she supposed to break Aang free if she couldn't even find her way out of the dorming wings? It was only thanks to Lady Shomlen, whom she had met very near her own rooms, that she was able to find her way to a lunch.

When Katara asked Lady Shomlen what she was doing there, Lady Shomlen had replied, "Because my rooms are only two halls over."

So Lady Shomlen was kept close to the Fire Lord despite his apparent distaste for her?

Katara had avoided the Fire Lord at all costs, which had also meant she missed seeing Zuko. It was kind of weird to go an entire day without seeing him. She didn't think she could remember a single day that had happened since she'd come to the palace.

Katara woke up with new vigor the next morning. So what if she didn't know how to get around the palace? So what if she was either completely isolated or surrounded by maids that didn't talk to her? She'd do it! She'd find a way to get Aang out, and she'd give the Fire Lord a good thrashing just for being so ultra-creepy.

And then she'd let Aang have him and save the world and stuff.

Iroh had sent a note saying he wouldn't make it to breakfast that morning, he was busy training Zuko. Katara found it a little curious that Zuko was suddenly training so early, but didn't really think about it. She had her things to deal with.

But her planning was interrupted when – after the maid (Takiko) had finished with Katara's hair – she'd slipped Katara a note.

Elsie and I are here in the city. We're going to break you and Aang out. There's this guy Moelij helping us and he says that people in the city are starting to not like the fire lord as much. Just sit tight, and when we come to get you, I promise I'll let you kick butt.

Love, Sokka

Katara smiled. Yes. Things were starting to move. Things were- oh wait! A post-script.

Oh, and Moelij says you and Zuko are dating. That better not be true! It's too disgusting to even think about!

Oops.

Moelij smiled as he walked back into the gang's lair in the warehouse. Sokka and Elsie were waiting for him, just like they said they would at sunset. Moelij strolled over, fell into his haystack chair and grinned.

"Takiko gave me some really useful information," he told them. "And I think I just might have a plan."

Zuko sat patiently as the room of generals and nobles grew noisy. The meeting was over and the men who helped run it were discussing everything from the war to mango crops on Taranashi Island.

Since he had been allowed to attend meetings two days ago, many members of the Fire Court had approached Zuko and wished their congratulations. His Uncle Iroh had expressed, in private, how pleased he had been with Zuko's behavior. It would be a waste of three years if he hadn't learned that lesson.

He had asked his uncle to tell Katara that he had been training early in the morning instead of the truth – his was working on his diplomacy. Uncle hadn't questioned him, which was surprising in itself.

Zuko wasn't sure why exactly he didn't want Katara to know, but it seemed to be the choice to make. Besides, she wasn't family, why should she know everything he did in a day? It wasn't even that important. They were just duties that needed to be done.

But maybe that was why. These duties were the ones he was learning for when he took the throne. Somehow, he didn't think Katara would be excited about that. The idea of him as Fire Lord seemed as though it would upset her a bit.

And speaking of upsetting, Katara had been upset by his father. Zuko had seen it, and had been unwilling to do anything about it and now Katara had been frightened. She was his duty, at the very least, and because she was his captive (which she was, no matter how nicely he kept her) he was honor-bound to protect her. Anything someone else did to her while she was under his jurisdiction was a slight against him.

It was just disconcerting that it was his father.

In the days Zuko had been back, he'd tried to familiarize himself with everything that had gone on in his absence. He had gotten basic news while in exile, but nothing every other person on the planet hadn't known.

From the way it sounded, it seemed like his father was becoming more… ruthless.

Which made sense. The war had been going on for far too long, in Zuko's opinion. He'd only spent three years in it and already he was sick of it. He felt nauseated just thinking about all the years other people had spent fighting in it. It was time to end it, one way or another.

Being ruthless was just a way of doing that.

Zuko cracked an eye and glanced around the room. An elder man in very fine clothes caught his eye. The man was watching Zuko, elegance and refinery bred into the man's very presence.

Zuko lifted an eyebrow without thinking and the man took it as an invitation to approach.

"Your Royal Highness," the man bowed, his dark red robes swaying. He stood back up and looked Zuko in the eye. Zuko found himself beginning to feel twinges of respect in spite of himself. "I am deeply honored to make your acquaintance. I am very glad you have returned to us and I hope that with your presence and your capture of the Avatar as proof of your abilities, we shall make a speedy end to this war come about."

"Thank you for your respect. I will strive to be worthy of it." Zuko inclined his head as was polite for a prince to one of his subjects. He spoke calmly and steadily, his rough voice sounding only a little less royal than his bearing.

The man bowed again and walked away.

Iroh stepped up from where he had been standing nearby.

"That is the eighteenth swear of fealty you have received in the past two days, and one of the most sincere, I believe."

Iroh and Zuko both watched the crowd of sycophants and militants. Zuko did not turn to Iroh as he spoke, and Iroh did not turn to listen, though he did.

"The man did not even introduce himself."

"He is the head of the Ching-Lee family. He does not need to introduce himself."

Zuko's eyes widened. "I have been gone for a long time, and yet even I remember that name. They hold the most land in the Fire Nation, next to the royal family."

Iroh watched his nephew. There was a look to his form that betrayed a deep change in him. Something didn't settle right with the young man and Zuko had never been known to let something that bothered him to continue.

"Yes," Iroh agreed. "They influence much. That man has been ruling over his family like a minor king for almost fifty years now. He is a good ally to have."

Zuko lowered his voice, though it was unnecessary in the busy room. "You think I will need allies. In my own court."

"Every king needs allies, Prince Zuko. Without them your throne crumbles."

It does indeed.

The chapters are getting shorter and choppier. I'm going to stop describing as much "in-between" action, like how people get from one point to another, and just explain it as the story goes along. (If that made no sense, you'll understand in the next chapter.) This is because the story's starting to pick up now. We only have one more chapter until the climax of the story and then it settles down. I'm really excited. I can't wait to write the ending. It's coming soon. Stick with me. Love me.

Review me.