Chapter 17

Zuko

He felt a sharp sting in his left cheek as Azula slapped him.

Zuko hissed, his hand coming to shelter his face from further attacks. She fumed at him, her breath coming out in irritated pants. Her shoulders moved up and down with every breath she took.

"Zuko what are you doing?!" She pointed a long nail at unconscious girl on lying on the couch in his Uncle's antechamber. "Why did you carry her in here?!" Her eyebrows furrowed, and her mouth was twisted up in an expression of barely restrained pacified fury.

Katara had collapsed, and he just...acted. For the briefest of moments, he thought her dead. He was surprised by the amount of worry that he felt when he saw her, apparently lifeless, eyes fighting to stay opened, but the rest of her body had gone limp. She was a friend, he trusted her, cared for her, and he had to help her.

After he'd gathered her in his arms, Zuko had carried Katara into the main palace after she collapsed by his Uncle's side. Everyone had stared at the pair of them, lying in the wet grass, unmoving. He had to get her away. So he'd did what he did. Before he left, Azula finally got up from her seat and took off after him as soon as he picked the Water Tribe girl up. Azula muttered something about checking to see if Katara was all right, but Zuko knew that she wasn't.

"She's my friend." Zuko replied sternly, narrowing his eyes at his sister, defending his actions.

"She's after more than just friendship if you ask me." Azula said intentionally, not looking at him. She half-muttered to herself, "She's ruining everything."

"What's she ruining for you, Azula?" He asked her, the accusation obvious in his voice. "Besides, what's so bad about helping her anyway? Should I have just left her there? On the hard ground?" He finished sarcastically.

"It would have been more than she deserved." Azula spat. "She should have just stayed where she belonged."

"What do you have against her, Azula? Do you want Mai in the Hana Matsuri that badly?" Zuko asked with a curious tone.

"I thought you wanted the same thing." She asked him, her voice drenched in suspicion, as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Is Mai really what's most important right now?" He asked, exasperated. "Katara just saved Uncle's life!"

"And your point is…?" Azula waved a hand in the air sarcastically, raising an eyebrow

"If she didn't save him, he would have died, Azula." Zuko said exasperated...but then a thought came to him. "Unless... you wanted Uncle to die?" He accused quietly, stepping closer to her, anger bubbling up inside of him.

Azula rolled her eyes at him. She folded her arms over her chest in an expression of annoyance. "Don't be so stupid."

"If you don't care about Mai, the other reason why you'd want Uncle to die is—,"

"Does it really matter anymore?" Azula asked him mockingly. She placed a hand on her hip. "Whether or not the old man kicks the bucket is none of my concern. I'm just worried about Mai. You know how much she loves you, Zuko. I'd hate to see her heartbroken."

He felt Mai's stare on him from the minute Katara had called out his name, but his eyes had never left Katara's form as she struggled with the guard, or even as she worked diligently over his Uncle, saving his life. But how should he respond? He opted to go for indifference. He wasn't so decided on Mai as his future wife anymore.

"She knows that I don't exactly trust her anymore." He wouldn't bring up her assault on Katara. Maybe Azula didn't know that he knew, and he wouldn't give her any ideas.

Azula cut him off waving her hand dismissively at him, as though he were a small child. "Mai is willing to forgive you for your transgression with the girl, Zuko. As well as for breaking her heart. She doesn't mind if you want to take the Water Tribe girl as a concubine but—,"

He cut her off. "Need I remind you, that Mai broke up with me? Not the other way around. But seriously Azula, a concubine?" Zuko said incredulously. "I could never do that to Katara. She deserves someone to treat her right, and not play second to someone else."

"So, it's true then." Azula remarked darkly. "You have chosen her."

"What do you mean I've chosen her? I don't want to get married, remember?"

"That's a load of komodo shit, Zuko, and you know it." Azula accused, holding up a hand. She counted each of her points, marking each one with a finger. "Firstly, you do nothing but stare at her constantly. Then you lie for her when we both know that the kitchen was locked. Then you show up to your mother's room together and now today?" Azula was breathing heavy with irritation in her glaring, golden eyes.

"What are you implying, Azula?" Zuko asked her.

Azula breathed in and out, trying to calm herself, but he knew that she would have rather punched him. She poked him in the chest; he was able to feel the pressure of her finger through the thin robes that he wore.

"Look, Zuko." She said very persuasively. "You need to figure out your priorities."

"My priorities?" Zuko asked.

She sighed again, but said pointedly, "You need to realize what's best for the Fire Nation and you need to do it fast."

He was about to reply, asking her what she thought was best for the Fire Nation, but he heard voices coming from further down the hall. Zuko opened the door to his Uncle's chambers turned to look at who was coming. A long line of people were coming down the hall, reminding him of a funeral procession, which he hoped wasn't the case. His Aunt led the group down the hallway of the main palace, with six servants carrying his Uncle on a stretcher. Lu Ten was holding Song's hand as they walked on the left side of the tarp that held his Uncle's weakened body, worry on both of their faces. His mother walked on the opposite side, on the right side of his Uncle.

When they reached the doorway, Zuko held the door open so that the bearers could carry his Uncle through and into the bedroom. Everyone walked past him as they went through the door and into the room. The air was somber, silent. No one moved or made a sound. His aunt wasn't crying anymore, but her eyes were puffy, and her cheeks were blotchy. When his mother passed him, she paused.

"How is she?" His mother asked, sadness in her eyes.

"She?" Zuko replied, closing the door behind her.

His mother gave him a pointed look. "Katara. How is she?"

Zuko shrugged. "I'm not sure. She hasn't moved in the past 15 minutes"

His mother looked at Katara, walking closer, and Zuko followed her gaze, watching the steady rise and fall of Katara's chest. She looked at peace, merely asleep. The pale red of her robes seemed to illuminate her tan skin, and in the light of the window from the sitting room, it appeared as though she were glowing from within…perhaps she was healing herself? Could Katara could heal herself as well as other people?

Could she heal me?

No.

Don't go down that route. You'll only set yourself up for disappointment.

He followed his mother into the inner sanctum of his Uncle's chambers, going down the short hallway into his Uncle's bedroom. Everything was lined in red and gold, and a large bed took up half of the room, with several large pillows now propping his Uncle upright.

His mother went to sit in the chair opposite of Iroh's bed. Azula stayed by her parents, who looked like they wanted to be anywhere else but here. Tiang looked the most uncomfortable, but perhaps she was just squeamish. The sight of his Uncle coughing up black blood wasn't exactly an experience that someone could get used to.

Although Katara had saved his uncle from certain death, he still looked terrible. Blue-green veins ran underneath his uncle's translucent skin. His hands were shaking, even in unconsciousness. Behind his closed lids, his eyes moved rapidly, and the bruising on his exposed chest scared him. He looked like he had been through a war, and in some ways, he had. Uncle Iroh's eyes were closed tightly, as if in death, but with each breath his uncle took, the mustache on his chin would move, almost making Zuko cry out in laughter.

At least he isn't snoring, Zuko thought to himself.

Not everyone paid attention to the signs of life. "Why would this happen?" His aunt was crying on her son's shoulder. Lu Ten patted his mother on the back gently, whispering comforting things in her ear. Whatever he said didn't seem to have any effect, because she only cried harder with each passing second. "Why would someone want to do this to him?"

"I don't know mother," Lu Ten was saying, louder now. "I have no idea."

Katara

She was dreaming again.

It was different this time. She wasn't on the snowy tundra, nor was she anywhere that felt like home on the icy plains of the Arctic. She was on the beach, in red bindings, her chest and legs exposed. She looked about 22 years old. There were curves in places that had not been there beforehand. Her hair was unbound and long, passing underneath her rear, falling to the light sand in gentle waves down her back. She was lounging on a dark red blanket that someone had placed there, gazing at the waves hitting against the beach and being comforted by the sound of the waves.

A man was walking up to her. He was lean and muscular, with dark shaggy hair that covered his face from view. Even though she couldn't see his face, Dream-Katara had the overwhelming feeling that this man was a person that she loved beyond all measure. He reached her, head still down, laughing brightly and sat on the towel with her, as the afternoon sun bathed them in its glow.

"How is my beautiful wife doing?" he asked, kissing her softly on the lips. His arm came around her shoulders and she leaned into his embrace. "Are you too hot? You should have stayed in the shade, you get hotter quicker. I don't want you to get heatstroke." He felt her forehead for signs of fever. It didn't matter, because she was always at a cooler body temperature than him.

She chuckled and swatted his hand away. "Stop worrying, darling. The doctor says I'm fine." She told him, taking his hand in her own. "And even if I weren't, I can heal myself." She nudged him gently.

"Your healing has its limits, you know that." Her husband said, placing a kiss on her temple.

She smiled at him. He worried so much about her. "For the last time, I'm fine." she said, rubbing her stomach gently. She raised an eyebrow at him. "But you can kiss me harder, you know. I'm not going to break." Katara leaned in for a deeper kiss, but the man moved away from her.

"I don't want to take any chances." The man told her. "This is our first baby. Have you thought of any names? I'm stuck. "

"They're not very good." She blushed a little bit. Her husband picked up her hand and kissed it, intertwining their fingers. "I was thinking of Taro for a boy, and Kysa for a girl."

"I think they're beautiful names," he said to her, kissing her on the cheek.

Katara rolled her eyes; she was getting tired of her husband's softness when it came to her pregnancy. Sitting up and putting her hand on his chin, she pulled him down for a deeper kiss. Her husband moaned into her mouth as he deepened the kiss between them. Finally, when they had to stop for air, Katara broke it off, though she kept her forehead pressed against his. Smiling happily, she brushed the hair out of her husband's face, revealing golden eyes and a large scar covering most of his face. Her husband shook his head, the hair falling back in front of his face, covering up the scar.

"You know I don't like when you do that." He said. "You know I hate this scar."

Katara sighed; they'd had this conversation before. "I know that." But she brushed the hair out of the way anyway, tucking it behind his mangled ear. He frowned at her. First, she kissed the frown from his lips, and then trailing her lips upward, she kissed the burnt skin underneath his eyes.

"But you should also know, Fire Lord Zuko, every time I look at you, and I see this scar, I fall more and more in love with you."

The Zuko in her dream smiled at her, and there was more love in his eyes than she had ever known. He kissed her soundly on the lips once more, only this time it continued into the night, their lips never leaving each other's except to breathe. As the sun went down and the moon rose and bathed the two bodies intertwining as one in silver moonlight, and Katara felt Zuko's lips all over her, she realized that she had never been happier, then when she was with Zuko.

Katara felt her eyes pop open to a red ceiling in an unfamiliar room. The last thing she remembered was healing Iroh in the garden, and angry pairs of yellow eyes. She winced, as she sat up, her back hurting. She placed a hand on the small of her back, rubbing out the knots. She looked around the room, recognizing it as Iroh's antechamber from her time there earlier today.

What was with that strange dream?

She swung her legs over the side, trying to stand, her legs nearly giving out under her when a pale hand caught her arm and helped to steady her. Attached to that hand was Princess Ursa staring down at her.

"Oh!" Katara stammered out, falling backwards in surprise.

Ursa held her steady though, taking both of her hands into her own while helping Katara to her feet. "No, I should apologize. I scared you."

The woman smiled at her kindly. Once Katara stood, Ursa turned the girl to face her. Katara's heart beat faster. What was the woman going to say to her? Would she be angry with her? Did Iroh not survive after all? Katara held her breath, waiting for the woman to speak.

"I owe you another apology." Ursa said. She looked down at her feet, as if she was a child caught stealing a cookie. "I'm sorry that I suspected you. No child of Kya would be so malicious. Will you forgive me?"

They began to go down the short hallway marked with a picture of the Fire Nation capital. Katara shook her head, and for a moment, Princess Ursa looked upset, but then Katara said. "There's nothing to forgive."

But Ursa still looked like she was blaming herself, so she explained.

They were nearing the closed double doors of Iroh's bedroom. "The way that Azula was talking, I don't blame you for suspecting me. She's very convincing."

"But you don't feel any resentment towards me?" Ursa asked her, staring at her disbelievingly. Katara shook her head, but Ursa carried on. "I practically take you from your home, force you into this competition, and then turn my back on you when you need my help. And all for my son, that you don't even like."

"I wouldn't say that I don't like Zuko anymore. He's not that bad." Katara felt her cheeks getting heated. She remembered the dream, and how she and Zuko looked happy together.

"Really now?" Ursa asked incredulously. She looked skeptical, but the hint of a smile on her pink lips said otherwise.

"Yes, really." Katara told the older woman who could barely contain her glee. "Zuko and I are…friends of a sort."

"Friends?" Ursa asked. "Well, I think it's more than that, but whatever you say, my dear."

Katara blushed, "N-No I didn't mean that—,"

But Katara couldn't finish. The doors to Iroh's bedchamber opened and Princess Ursa walked inside. Iroh was the first person in her line of vision. He looked battered and broken, but that was to be expected. His body was more than likely trying to repair itself, once she'd gotten most of the poison out of his system. A bowl of water was sitting on the bedside table and his wife was sitting on the side of the bed, dabbing his face with a wet cloth.

Lu Ten was on his father's other side, holding his hand and speaking to Iroh softy. She wondered briefly if Iroh could hear him in his unconscious state. Ozai, Tiang and Azula were in one corner of the room but they weren't speaking to each other. Katara felt a powerful sense of dread when she saw the small family, though she couldn't understand why. Zuko was alone, standing by the large window on the wall of his Uncle's bedchamber, looking out at the ocean. She looked at his features, bright golden eyes, jet black hair, a chiseled jaw…but no scar.

When they entered, Zuko turned towards them, and everyone else looked up. He walked over to Katara even as she avoided meeting his eyes. She couldn't do that seeing the older, shirtless Zuko in his place. She saw him frown slightly but chose to ignore it. The only thing that she could think of when she looked at him was her dream. How they had interacted, how she could feel the love between her dream self and Zuko. She didn't understand why she would dream about such a thing when her own relationship with Zuko wasn't nearly as romantic.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, coming closer. Katara's eyes widened. He looked the same way Dream-Zuko had looked at her, with eyes full of genuine fear and concern. "I was worried about you."

"I'm fine, Zuko." Katara said to him, blushing. Why could she not stop blushing? It was just a dream, nothing more. "So, I passed out, it's nothing major."

"You've collapsed after healing someone before?" Zuko asked, sounding more worried than he originally had. She noticed Ursa and Fire Lady Yun Xi staring at her curiously, but she didn't know what to make of their expressions.

She turned to the group, explaining to the room as a whole. "It really only happens when injuries are extensive. Healing can take a lot out of someone," Katara told them, moving around Zuko, making her way to Iroh's bedside. Lu Ten stood up and moved aside to allow her approach. She looked at Iroh's pale skin and listened to his weak breath. Asking the Fire Lady, she said, "Has there been any change in him?"

She shook her head. "No, only what you see here." Then she grew anxious. "Why? Is that a problem? Should he have changed by now? What does that mean?" Her questions continued as she placed a hand on Iroh's chest, her anxiety near visible on her body.

Katara covered the woman's hand with her own. "No, no, please don't worry. He is fine. I promise."

The Fire Lady was so desperate, but she had to say something.

The truth was, she couldn't tell from sight alone.

She turned to the bowl of water by Iroh's bedside, with the red cloth in it that the Fire Lady had been wiping his forehead with. She stepped away from the bed, and slowly brought her hands over the bowl, water rising up into the air and traveled to her across Iroh's body. When it reached her, she formed into a glove on her right hand. She bent over Iroh's still body, placing the cool water on his chest and breathing deeply. A soft glow came from her hand and illuminated the room in a cool blue light.

"How is he?" The Fire Lady asked impatiently.

Katara moved the water towards his lungs. "His breathing is much better."

It was true, Iroh's breath came steadier now, there were no hiccups or coughs, but she felt that the poison wasn't completely gone from his system, there was still some embedded in his body, deep underneath the surface, set in his bones. It would take more healing sessions for Iroh to be as he once was. But for now, he needed time for his body to recover from this attack. She straightened and sent the water back into the bowl. Everyone still watched her as she did that, as if she was a street performer doing a magic trick. She internally rolled her eyes. You would think that these people had never seen a waterbender before.

"That's it?" Lu Ten asked her. "Isn't there anything else?"

She shook her head. "That's all that I can do for right now. The hardest work will be up to him." She looked at the concerned face of the Crown Prince. "The poison isn't fully out of his system yet, so it will take more healing sessions for him to return to full health."

"You can't just heal him right away?" The Fire Lady said, sounding upset and mildly angry. "Why can't you get it all out?"

"This wasn't…" Katara tried to explain before sighing and changing tactics, deciding to be blunt. Looking into the Fire Lady's eyes, she clarified. "The poison was buried so deep in his blood, if I removed it now, he wouldn't have enough blood to live. He must have been poisoned for years. In small doses, of course, never enough to do much harm."

The Fire Lady's mouth fell open. "Years? How is this possible?"

Katara shrugged. "I don't know what his medical history is, but what I do know is that he needs time to rest." Katara reached out a hand and touched Iroh's forehead. There was sweat pooling on the surface, a sign that his body was working to fight the effects of the poison. "If I try and heal him now, without giving his body time to recover, it could kill him instead."

"Can't you do anything else? I don't understand," Lu Ten was practically begging at this point, "Back in the garden—,"

"That was an extreme circumstance." She said simply. "I would never heal that much ordinarily. You saw what it did to me."

"Oh, what are we doing, Lu Ten?" The Fire Lady cleared her throat, smiling at her, though the frantic look remained in her eyes. "We shouldn't be pestering Katara, we should be thanking her, instead." She gave Katara a kind smile. "It is because of you that my Iroh is alive and well."

"Thanking me?" Katara asked. "For healing the Fire Lord? I was glad to do it, really. He's a good man."

"You did more than just heal him." Fire Lady Yun Xi told her, taking Katara's hand. "You saved his life. I will forever be indebted to you, Katara of the Water Tribe."

"Do you know what kind of poison this was?" Tiang asked her, concern on her face.

Katara blinked, surprised that the woman was talking to her directly. She cleared her throat and then answered. "I've only seen this poison once before. In Suki's village."

"Who's Suki?" Fire Lady Yun Xi asked.

To her surprise, Zuko answered. "The Leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. She's here…in the Hana Matsuri."

Yun Xi looked at Princess Ursa. "Ursa can you—?"

Princess Ursa shrugged. "I don't know where she's staying."

"I do." Song spoke up from the corner of the room. It seemed as if everyone had forgotten about her. Song looked nervous, and her voice came out quieter than normal.

"You do, my dear?" The Fire Lady smiled at her soon to be daughter-in-law. She didn't seem to notice Song's scared body language.

Song nodded, not lifting her eyes to meet the Fire Lady's own. "I-I can go get her, if you'd l-like."

Why is Song so scared? It doesn't make any sense. She is going to be living with them for the rest of her life, shouldn't she start talking to them now?

The Fire Lady nodded. Lu Ten placed a kiss on Song's temple; she smiled at him before leaving the room.

"Song is a good friend to me, Prince Lu Ten." Katara told the older man, lowly, so the others couldn't hear.

Lu Ten gave her an insulted look. "What are you implying?" He stepped closer. "Are you saying that I would mistreat her or something?"

"N-No, nothing like that. I just—,"

"What Katara is probably trying to say," Zuko chimed in, "Is that she wishes that your marriage to Song is happy and peaceful."

Katara glared at Zuko, but nodded anyway. "Exactly." Lu Ten seemed satisfied by this, moving backwards, and leaning against the wall. Katara stood from the bed and made her way over to Zuko. He looked surprised to see her come to him, but he didn't move away or anything.

"I didn't need your help, Zuko." She told him. "I could have found a way out of that."

"You don't know Lu Ten's temper." He told her, his voice lowered into her ear.

Katara's hair stood up on the back of her neck, her eyes shifted from left to right, and she noticed how everyone was leaning in towards them, probably trying to overhear what they were talking about, and Zuko apparently saw this as well.

"Come with me." He said, leading her out into the hallway where they wouldn't be overheard.

Once he'd checked to make sure they were alone, she asked him, "Why did we need to be alone to talk about your temper?"

Zuko still looked nervous; his eyes didn't meet hers. "It was my temper that got me into some very deep trouble when I was younger."

"Are you ever going to tell me what was wrong with you in the garden earlier?" Katara asked, knowing the outcome of that loss in temper, was what the Fire Lord had asked of her.

"I'll tell you now, if you want to hear it." Again, Zuko looked on edge. He obviously wasn't He stared towards the ornate bedroom door. "I couldn't risk the chance of my father overhearing us."

"Would it be a problem if he did?" She wondered, head tilting in confusion.

"I would say so." Zuko replied, his gaze narrowing as something behind her caught his eye. Zuko's mouth turned up in an uncharacteristic sneer before a voice called out to the pair. She heard the sound of boots on the stone floor as she turned to late to see the figure that approached them.

"If you two are busy, don't let me interrupt you."