Chapter Nineteen

Truth and Lies

Azula's arm slid slowly across the bed but she felt nothing next to her. She raised up slightly and looked at the empty spot in the bed where Khundes had been. She looked around and saw him sitting at the window. "what are you doing?" she asked, sitting up and clutching the blanket around her. He said nothing.

"Khundes?" Azula said, now standing up out of bed, still holding the blanket around herself. Still he said nothing to her. She walked to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Khundes?" she said again.

"I'm thinking..." Khundes said in a hushed tone.

"About what?" Azula asked.

"You and I... Whether I can trust that you really do love me..." said Khundes, avoiding Azula's eyes.

Azula stayed quiet for a moment, taking in what he had just said to her. At first she didn't understand why he would say that, then she remembered the torture he had endured in the Prison Tower. "What's bringing this up again?"

"Well... your father came here to see me. He asked me to watch out for you. I just want to make sure you really do care for me before I stick my neck out for you," Khundes said, still not looking at her.

Azula stepped in front of Khundes and placed a hand on his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Look into my eyes... What do you see?" she asked.

Khundes looked into her eyes, then tears brimmed his eyes. "I'm sorry Azula. I just..."

"Its ok. You're just confused. I'm sure once we get to Ember Island and get your mind off things here, you'll feel a lot better," Azula said, then leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. After a moment she pulled away and looked at him. "What else did my father say?"

"He told me that you picked a great young man to get involved with," Khundes started.

"Well thats obvious," Azula said with a smirk.

"He also told me to tell you and Zuko to take whom you wish with you to Ember Island when we go today," Khundes said, now looking out the window again. The sky was no longer black, It had turned into a very deep purple of a pending sunrise.

Azula smiled at Khundes. "Get ready. We'll be leaving in just a few hours," she said and made her way to her closet to get dressed.

Khundes stood up and walked to the window. The sky had changed already from the deep purple to a violent shade of pink. Down in the palace gardens, he could see the turtle-ducks swimming cheerily in the pond. Khundes sighed and gave into the smile that was trying to form on his lips. He turned and began walking to the bed to gather his clothes, which had been scattered between the floor and bed.

As he reached the bed there was a knock at the door.

"Khundes would you be a dear and answer the door?" came Azula's voice from the closet.

Khundes shook his head and, still smiling, walked to the door and opened it. His smile dropped slightly when he saw Zuko standing there. "Hey Zuko. Whats up?" Khundes said. From what Khundes could tell Zuko looked rather shocked to see him standing there.

"What are you doing here?" Zuko asked, a bitter tone to his voice.

"Uh... Azula is my girlfriend and my father doesn't want me in our house while he's away," Khundes said.

"I don't mean here at the palace, I mean here! Back in the capitol. I thought you were staying in Omashu on your father's orders," Zuko said, his tone now annoyed.

"It's a long story. Lets just say that if Azula hadn't found me, I would probably be dead right now," Khundes said. For a moment he and Zuko stood there staring one another down, as if one was waiting for the other to attack.

"Khundes who is it?" Azula said, stepping out of the closet, now dressed. Her eyes landed on Zuko. "Oh, hello Zuzu. What do you want?" she asked.

Zuko shoved Khundes out of the way and walked into the room. He looked at his sister. "What's this about us going to Ember Island for the weekend? Why didn't I know about it before this morning?" he demanded.

"Oopsy. I must have forgotten. You know... my boyfriend showing up half dead kind of distracted me from other things," Azula said with an air of annoyance.

"I thought you said she found you," Zuko said, looking back at Khundes.

"She did. I had just returned home when a man approached me and told me that my father was here and he wanted to see me. When I walked past the man he hit me in the head and knocked me out. Next thing I knew I woke up in the Prison Tower, chained up with that man staring at me," Khundes looked at Azula.

"Long story short, the prison torturer gave Khundes quite the beating and starved him," Azula said.

"But that still doesn't explain how you showed up at the Prison Tower," Zuko said.

"Does it matter?" Khundes asked.

"Yes it does," Zuko said. "You don't normally trouble yourself with the prison. Why would you go there Azula?"

Azula sighed impatiently. "Fine. If you must know I was there doing an inspection. Happy?" she said.

Zuko remained quiet for a moment. He was clearly mulling it all over in his head. Finally he spoke. "Why is dad sending us away this weekend?"

"Does it really matter? We could all use some time away from here," Azula said.

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't realize that my three years away from here wasn't long enough!" Zuko said, storming out of the room and slamming the door shut.

Khundes shook his head. "As long as I've known him, he's always been a drama queen about dumb things," he said, turning to Azula. He walked over to her and took her hand. "Thank you for helping me keep my butt out of trouble," Khundes said.

"Do you believe now that I care for you?" Azula said, jerking her hand from his and walking to the bathing room.

Khundes sighed and walked hesitantly over to the doorway into the bathing room. He leaned on the door frame and looked at Azula. "Azula I'm sorry. I shouldn't mistrust you for something you didn't do. You have given me no reason not to trust you," he said.

Azula sighed. "When I ended our relationship before I was trying to make it easier on myself by telling you that I didn't love you. I shouldn't have said that," she said looking down into the wash basin.

Khundes' mouth began forming a smile. "Wait," he said, walking to her. "Was that you apologizing for that?"

Azula said nothing.

Khundes' smile widened. "It's ok to actually say 'I'm sorry' once in a while Azula," he said.

There was another knock at the bedroom door. "Oh look at that! Saved by the knock," Azula said, walking past Khundes to answer the door.

Feeling even better about being back with Azula, Khundes walked out into the bedroom again, still smiling.