This isn't right…

Those were the first thoughts that came to Katara's mind when the Fire Nation Prince stepped into view, holding Aang captive with a sword placed against his neck. Something about that image just seemed so wrong it was unsettling, and the feeling wasn't just caused by seeing her friend being threatened. Though, that was a big factor in her growing anxiety right now. But that feeling of wrongness only grew worse when she took note of the three Fire Nation girls that had also attacked them, one of which they soon discovered was the Crown Princess. Just their luck.

For just a small moment, an image came to her mind of a scene very similar to this, slipping away as soon as it came.

"The Avatar's coming with me!"

She didn't know whose voice it was- and no one in the room had spoken those words- but for some reason, she recognised it. Katara might have ruminated on it longer had she not heard the sound of the doors to the sanctuary beginning to close.

Barely even taking the time to think about it- or the girl with very sharp knives poking out of her sleeves standing next to her- Katara used the remains of her waterskin and flung it at Aang's captor, sending ice spreading along his sword arm.

She would have cheered in delight as Aang broke free, but a sharp pain in her right shoulder and a sudden weight pressing her down on the ground only caused her to cry out in alarm. She faintly registered the sound of fire blasts and yelling as the doors slammed shut, but the sound of her brother's voice screaming out her name was the only thing she focused on.

She hadn't seen him gone down in the fight, only spotting him when it had stopped. Her heart had stopped for a moment when she saw him lying on the floor, a girl dressed in pink standing over him with a cheerful smile on her face. It was only when he groaned and lifted his head to meet her eyes was Katara able to find her breath again. If anything happened to him… No, it was best not to think of those things right now. First, they had to focus on helping Aang after he comes out of the sanctuary and then finding a way to escape.

But with Katara being held down by knife girl, Sokka being incapacitated by pink girl and Shyu being restrained by the Fire Sages, none of them were exactly in a position to do anything useful.

The faint rattling of chains could be heard from behind her, and she felt a pair of hands slowly pull her up from the floor, careful not to touch her aggravated shoulder. Scraping on the floor and loud protests signified that they were also bringing Sokka over towards her.

"Hey, hey! I don't like being manhandled by anyone! Man or woman, you hear me ashmaker!?"

"Now, that's not very nice." The pink girl replied in a cheerful tone. Katara could feel his presence close to her back as the two girls began to tie their wrists together with handcuffs, but not close enough to be touching. She was glad for that, as she was fairly certain that the knife that had been thrown at her had yet to be removed from her shoulder. Evidence being that it really, really hurt.

"Ty Lee…" Knife girl warned.

"What?" The girl- Ty Lee- asked with an innocent expression.

The knife girl simply sighed and mutely shook her head.

Out of all the Fire Nation people they had met (which was, admittedly, not actually that many), this lot had to be the furthest from what Katara imagined most Fire Nation people to be like.

A blast of blue fire accompanied by a yell of frustration echoed throughout the area.

Well, some of them.

The two royals in the room were both a deep contrast to each other. The Crown Princess- Azula, Katara thinks- was glaring at the door as if she was hoping it would simply crumble under the weight of her gaze, her clenched hands engulfed in bright, azure flames. Not too far away, the Prince- Lu Ten- was calmly questioning Shyu with an unreadable expression on his face, speaking too quietly for Katara to overhear.

She thought it odd that a member of the Fire Nation royal family would wield another weapon. She had once been told that all of them were Firebenders and that they saw it as 'beneath them' to carry another weapon besides the one that they had been gifted at birth. And yet, here was a Fire Nation Prince with a sword strapped to his side, not a hint of fire to be seen in his hands. Yet.

She heard Sokka shift behind her and subtly entwine their fingers as much as their restraints would allow it. It seemed that, whatever Ty Lee had done to him, it was thankfully starting to wear off. With the two Fire Nation girls standing right next to them, the only thing the two Watertribesmen could do was keep hold of each other.

The slightest movements sent sharp waves of pain through her shoulder, and it was taking everything she had to hold back the tears from her eyes.

She hoped Aang would return soon. The sooner they got out of here, the better.

{~}

Lu Ten didn't even know that just the sound of someone's footsteps could convey arrogance, but somehow, Zhao had managed it.

Beside him, he could feel the boiling anger rolling off of his cousin at the audacity of the commander. She turned her gaze towards him, a question in her brow. He subtly shook his head, and she smirked, turning her back fully to the newcomer. If Zhao was going to act this way and continue to avoid direct orders from his superiors, then there was only one thing Lu Ten could do.

Time to be petty.

Ignoring Zhao's attempts to gain attention onto him by clearing his throat, the Prince turned back to the sage kneeling before him.

"Why did you help the Avatar?"

The sage, despite being outed as a traitor to his nation, held his head up high with pride. "Because it was once the sages' duty. It is still our duty."

Zhao scoffed from behind them.

"It was your duty." Azula corrected him, stepping forward. "But times have changed, and your loyalty is to the Fire Lord. Your full loyalty."

Lu Ten internally winced at her words, barely able to keep his hands from clenching into fists.

The Crown Princess now loomed ominously in front of the sage, a dark gleam in her eyes. But the man was not intimidated, and he merely turned his gaze to the side, apparently done conversing with them. That was fine. There was nothing more that Lu Ten wanted to know from him.

"Prince Lu Ten-" Lu Ten tuned Zhao out as he turned towards the two other captives in the room.

From the tight grip they had on each other's hands and the similarities in their looks, he assumed that they were siblings, but he could be wrong. They were Watertribe, no doubt about that from the clothing they wore. From the direction in which they'd been traveling, Lu Ten first thought that they would be from the South. But then the girl had started throwing ice and water all over the place, and, well… everyone in the Fire Nation knew what happened to the Southern Waterbenders (his arm still stung from the sudden shock of ice that had been thrown at it. He was lucky that Azula's fireballs flying past him had pretty much evaporated all of it). And yet, that did not explain their direction of travel. Why continue to head north when they already had a Waterbender with them? Or did the Avatar already master water? But the reports and rumours spoke of the Avatar as only using Airbending.

Those certainly weren't the only questions that the Prince had, nor were they the most prevalent. Such as: Why did the Avatar- who looks no older than twelve- decide to appear now? Where had he been? How is he an Airbender? Why is he only being accompanied by two people? Why do said people also look far too young to be doing any of this? Why does Lu Ten suddenly feel really horrible for attacking them? And why the fuck is Zhao still talking?

"-Do you not agree, Prince Lu Ten?" Well, at least he wasn't ignoring him in favour of Azula now. Probably not the widest decision though. The mission may have been 'gifted' (read: aggressively ordered) to Lu Ten's control, but Azula was the Crown Princes and thus held the highest authority. Neither of them had told Zhao that Lu Ten was in charge, and thus the stupid idiot had technically just insulted the heir to the throne of their nation. Congratulations Zhao!

After a moment, it occurred to him that everyone was looking at him, awaiting his answer to… whatever the commander had asked him. Mai kept up her usual closed off demeanor, but her brow was more furrowed than usual. Ty Lee's smile had gone from cheerful to extremely awkward, and she looked as if she wanted to be anywhere but here. And Azula looked… amused? Hm, this was not a good combination of expressions.

Lu Ten turned slightly, not enough to fully face Zhao, but just so that he could actually look at the older man. "Zhao, I did not listen to a single word you just said."

The man's face flushed red, and he opened his mouth to protest when a commotion from the Fire Sages drew their attention. The large doors leading to the sanctuary had started to glow, and Lu Ten had only a moment to realise what was happening before the doors swung open, releasing a wave of heat that made it difficult for anyone to catch their breath. But that wasn't what caused a feeling of horror and dread to wash over him.

No, it was the sight of two eerily glowing white eyes glaring at them through the smoke. It was the only thing that was actually visible, but it was also enough to give Lu Ten fair enough warning.

"Ah, shit."

Azula struggled against his grip as he took hold of her arm and pulled her back, calling out for Mai and Ty Lee to follow. His cousin was yelling about how the Avatar was right there and that they should follow after him. She did not take notice of the rising heat or the widening cracks that split the ground.

Thankfully, she seemed to regain her senses when the lava and magma started pouring out of every fissure in the temple and began to move in the right direction, not even trying to escape Lu Ten's grip. The four made a mad dash for the exit, avoiding falling debris and falling through the crumbling floor.

As they finally reached the entrance to the temple, Lu Ten had only one thought on his mind: As long as Zhao dies in some way during all of that carnage, I'm fairly certain we can call this a successful day. Avatar captured or not.

He would later find out that, unfortunately, they were not that lucky.


It's late, I know, I'm sorry!

-Have I made it clear yet how much I hate Zhao?

-It's 1:30 in the morning, I'm so sorry if there are any typo's or mistakes that I missed when looking this over

-Katara and Sokka supporting each other is something I live for.

-Going over this chapter made me realise that Lu Ten is now the McGonagall to Zhao's Umbridge. I did not exactly intend for this to happen but I enjoy writing it

-Hopefully getting a Ty Lee chapter soon

-Also, kudos to those who are know which song lyrics the title of this fic comes from. It's one I listen to often when planning this story and those words in particular always seemed to stick with me for some reason

Thank you again for reading!