TRIGGER WARNING. THIS CHAPTER HAS IMPLIED PHYSICAL ABUSE OF WOMEN AND GANG RAPE.

Sam

It had been over a week since Zuko left and, true to his word, the days were going by fast. He had provided a few smaller projects for me to oversee and they consumed my days. Nights, however, were another matter. Sleep would come in waves. I would sleep for a little bit, then I would be wide awake. I was pretty sure I trained more during these few days that I had any other days put together.

Zuko would be expected home in a day or two. I could survive that long, right? I had finished my work for the day and decided to go to bed early. I had gotten up exceptionally early that day because I couldn't sleep and I was busy with one of the bigger projects he had left for me along with the sessions I had with the women.

I crawled into bed and, to my surprise, went to sleep fairly quickly.

It was a few hours later when something awoke me. I looked around the room and didn't see anything. It was still pitch black out but I thought it must be the wee hours of the morning. Then I heard it again. Rustling in the bathing room. Could Zuko be home already?

"Zuko?" I called out, hopeful.

No response.

"Zuko, is that you?" I called out again. Still, nothing.

"Hello? Who is there?!" I asked loudly. I decided to get up and check it out. It probably is just my imagination playing tricks on me I reasoned.

I walked over to the bathing room and opened the door. It was dark. I lit up the room with some firebending and looked around. Nothing was there. No one. Nothing out of place. I shrugged and realized I was definitely hearing things.

I turned around to leave the bathing room when I almost ran into someone. It was definitely a man and he had a mask on. I was surprised to see him. I didn't know who it was. I firebended my already-lit-flame at him which he quickly quelled. Then I felt some quick jabs to my body. I fell to the ground, unable to move. I tried to bend and I wasn't able to. Another person walked over and leaned over me.

"Oh don't you worry, 'Fire Lady.' I just chi-blocked you. You're helpless." To my surprise, it was a woman's voice that I faintly recognized. I didn't have time to think about it though. They gagged me so I couldn't call out. The man picked me up, slung me over his shoulder and carried me out, quietly.

I heard Geshna shouting at them to let me go. She ran towards us, pulling water out of a bladder to attack. They were too quick though. The man carrying me blasted her with firebending and knocked her down. She screamed in agony as I saw the fire blaze. She had been burned and I could only imagine, badly. My heart ached for her as much as it did for myself.

He walked for what felt like forever, his shoulder was digging into my ribs. Every step was painful. I still couldn't move or bend. But I could feel everything. It was almost like the pain was amplified by the chi-blocking.

We finally arrived at a small camp where an equally small campfire was burning. There were four other people there, masks on their faces as well. The man took me off his shoulder and dropped me to the ground, hard. They then tied my hands and feet so I couldn't move even if the chi-blocking wore off.

I laid in the dirt by the campfire while they talked. I was starting to feel my muscles were able to work again so I started to wriggle out of the restraints. They saw me though and with a couple of quick jabs, I was defenseless all over again. I laid in the dirt and silent. I couldn't do anything. And who would know where to find me? The only person who saw us was Geshna and I had no idea how bad her injuries were - or if she was even alive. I tried talking, but wasn't able to with the gag on. I managed to work the gag out of my mouth and started shouting.

"What is the meaning of this?! Who are you?! What do you want with me?!"

"Oh, isn't that just adorable? She wants to know what we want with her." The man who kidnapped me took off his mask and the others did the same. Some of these people I recognized. The man who took me was Hirshu, the guard who took me to Ozai. What was he doing with all of this? The woman who chi blocked me I recognized as, Rina, my neighbor in Ba Sing Se. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough, mark my words."

He grabbed me by the front of my shirt and drug me over to a nearby tree. He tied me to it by my hands and, for an extra measure, around my neck as well. The way he tied me, if I tried to move my hands at all, the rope around my neck would tighten.

"Why are you doing this? I trusted you!" I said to Hirshu, tears in my eyes.

"Yes, you did. But we are not here for you. We are here for Zuko."

"Zuko? Zuko isn't even home. How is he going to do anything?"

He kicked me in the face, "shut up!" I felt my nose crunch. Tears running down my face in reaction to the blow. I laid with my eyes closed, in part from the pain but also to will myself away from here. I heard him return to the group. That is when I heard them talking amongst themselves.

"How long do you think it will take for Zuko to find us?" Hirshu asked.

"He isn't due home for about two days. That gives us plenty of time to get everything into place." I couldn't believe they were saying these things in front of me. Then it occurred to me - there was one of two reasons they would be speaking so openly about their plans: either they thought I was unconscious or it was the same reason (and the more likely reason) they had unmasked themselves - they had no plans of me living to tell about it. I couldn't think about that now. I laid still, listening intently. I needed to know what they were planning.

"Everyone is still willing to give your life for the cause?" What?! Die for the cause?! What cause!? I heard murmurs of agreement.

"Do you really think Zuko will come?" a young male voice said.

"Oh, he will come for his precious whore. And when he does, he will kill all of us for what we do to her." Uh oh. What were they planning to…do to me? I got a knot in the pit of my stomach and fear started to take hold. "He will make us all martyrs for the cause. Without even knowing it, he will seal the deal with Ozai."

Ozai?! What does Ozai got to do with this?!

"The Ozai Society will claim victory! That usurper scum stole the throne from Ozai! Had Ozai been left to rule, we still would be a strong nation and still working to win the war!" They cheered at the mention of Ozai and jeered at the mention of Zuko. "After he kills us all, the Fire Nation will turn their backs on him, for slaughtering his own people. When that is done, the others will make their way to the Capital City Prison and break Ozai out of that cage. He is the real Fire Lord. He belongs on the throne. Not that spineless traitor!" They all laughed and toasted to this idea, "Then, Ozai will take out Zuko but he won't kill him. There are things far worse than death. He will throw Zuko and his slut in prison and we will let him watch while we all have fun with her. Then, when the time comes we will kill them both!" Loud cheers and applauds were heard from the campfire.

Oh God. This was not good! I started to hope that he WOULDN'T find me. I'd gladly give my life to protect my Zuko. Not to mention our people!

Hirshu came over to me and knelt down. Checking to make sure I was still alive, no doubt. I was no good to them dead at this point I wearily reasoned. "Whatever you people are planning, you won't get away with it!" I glowered at him.

"Oh, I beg to differ, we will. After Zuko does us in, everyone will back our cause."

"Why even bother keeping an outsider alive?" I asked.

"Let's just say, you will be a play thing for me and the other men." he said. I recognized the words. Ozai had said the same thing to me. Do you know what I would do to outsiders who came into the Fire Nation? I would make sure they would suffer and never see the light of day. I would keep them alive. But barely. I would allow my guards to do with them as they pleased. Because that is all any of you are good for. A play thing for my men. I was realizing the immense danger I was in and fear gripped me entirely.

Zuko

I was nearing the end of my trip to the prisons. I made note of things that needed changed and I praised them on the things I was happy with. It was finally time to go home and, tomorrow, I would see my beloved wife. I couldn't wait. We kept our company small - me and my two guards, Jok and Shen. It was easier and faster to travel this way if we didn't travel with the fanfare.

We finally arrived home and the first thing I did was search for Sam. I checked in the council chamber, the throne room, our office, our bedroom and she was nowhere to be found. I went out to the Turtleduck Garden and she wasn't there either. I walked back into the palace, puzzled. It was then that Geshna called out to me.

"Your highness! Thank Agni you're back! Did you get my messenger hawk?" She was running to me and winded, limping on her right leg that appeared to be bandaged. Then I realized her right arm was also bandaged along with her neck and part of her face.

My eyes widened and shock covered my face, "No, I didn't." Messenger hawks were not a foolproof system. "What happened to you? Are you alright?" I asked, holding my hands out to help her.

"Oh, Fire Lord! Please have mercy on me! I did everything I could!" Geshna was clearly worried about something. She was crying. She had fallen to her knees, pleading for leniency but for what I didn't know. I knelt down and placed a hand on part of her back that didn't appear to be wounded.

"What happened? Where is Sam?" She looked up at me, tears streaming. A mix of horror, terror and grief covering her face.

"She's g-gone, your majesty."

I went numb. "Gone? What do you mean 'gone'? What happened? Tell me, immediately!" I shouted. I couldn't help it. I was panicked. She cowered and I softened my tone as best I could, "Please Geshna. What happened?" I placed my hand on her shoulder.

By this time Jok, Shen and two other guards had heard my panicked shouting and they came running over, looking at me and then at Geshna.

"I'm so sorry, My Lord. It was two nights ago. I was getting ready to start my shift when I heard muffled cries. I followed the sound to see two masked people, one had Fire Lady Sam slung over his shoulder. She was completely limp. I didn't know what to do. I shouted at them to let her go and I ran towards them, ready to hit them with some waterbending. One of them turned around and blasted me with fire," she gestured to her injuries. "I tried to get up to go after them but I couldn't. I was badly burned. I eventually got to my feet and sent a hawk hoping you would get it. I didn't know what else to do. I have been working on getting a party together to go find her but we don't even know where to start." By the time she finished her tale she was crying again. I was well aware that most of the servants and guards had come to love Sam as their Fire Lady and I knew she was genuinely concerned for her safety.

"It's ok, Geshna. Do you know what direction they went?" It had been two days and nights. Who knew where they were by now. I had experience with tracking. When I was hunting Aang and when Uncle was captured by Earthbenders. I would do whatever it took. Even if I had to find June and Nyla.

Geshna informed me of everything that she knew. I ordered her to get some rest. I gathered Jok, Shen and the other two guards and we set out on our rhinos. We wanted to cover land quickly so it was only the five of us who went. We pushed our rhinos hard trying to track Sam. Luckily, Geshna had seen the kidnappers leaving on rhinos. They were easy to track - their footprints were hard to miss.

It took us the better part of the day but finally we saw smoke from a campfire. It had to be them. I realized they were not trying to hide so they probably knew we were coming which I shared with my men. We set out to flank them. Jok and Shen went to the left, the other two guards went to the right and I went down the middle. We arrived and we saw it was a group of about ten people. I didn't see Sam as we all approached the campsite.

Just as I suspected, they clearly were ready for us. I didn't care. I needed to find Sam. We all fought our way through the bandits. I had ordered them to not kill anyone…yet. Not until we knew where Sam was. My guards were all bending at them. I had unleashed my dragonfire on them. I meant business. Many of them screamed in agony, but I didn't care. I had one goal. Finally I had fought through them and I saw what looked like a figure laying next to a tree and I knew it was Sam. I ran over to her and was shocked at her condition.

She was awake, if you could call it that. She was laying on her back, staring at the sky, not moving. She had dried mixed with fresh blood on her face. Her nose was crooked so I knew it had been broken. I could see bruising on all of her exposed skin. Her shirt was torn open and her left breasts was exposed. I could see a deep bite mark just above her nipple. Her hands were laying on top of her clothes and I noticed blood on them as well. I looked closer and saw her fingernails were gone. They had ripped them all out. She didn't have her pants on and she was naked up to her waist, her legs splayed open. That was when I saw it. Dark, large bruising on the insides of her thighs. And A LOT of blood.

My eyes started to fill with tears and they quickly spilled over. What had they done to my Sam? Then I grew angry, feeling unable to control it. But I had to. I had to help her. I walked towards her slowly, cautiously not to startle her. "Sam? It's me. It's Zuko."

She blinked in recognition so I knew she at least heard me. Her eyes slid over to me without moving her head. Her expression was off. Numb I thought. When she saw me, her expression didn't change. She was completely flat.

"Hunny, I'm here. You're safe now." I said soothingly. Her expression still didn't change except she closed her eyes. I walked over to her slowly and untied her hands and feet. I also removed the rope from around her neck and her gag. I took my cloak off and laid it over her to give her back her dignity. She didn't move.

"I've been chi-blocked." she croaked. That explained her lack of movement. I squatted next to her and wrapped my arms around her upper torso, gently lifting her to sit against the tree.

I took out my water pouch, "can you drink?" she looked down at it and gave me a small nod. I brought it up to her mouth and slowly poured some in. She swished it around her mouth. I helped her lean to the side and she spit it out. It was mostly blood. I raised it to her mouth again and she swallowed this time.

"Which one of them did this to you?" I could hear the anger in my voice as I was able to smell their seed.

She looked at me, her expression turning hard. She closed her eyes again. When she opened them, her face turned to uncertainty and something I couldn't put my finger on. "I-I…I lost track." She said, her eyes sliding down in shame. My own eyes went wide and they started to fill with fresh tears again.

"Guards!" I shouted as loud as I could but admittedly, it came out shaky. They had subdued the bandits and came rushing over. They looked at Sam, horror on their faces. "I don't want any of these people leaving this campsite alive, is that clear?"

"No!" I heard from Sam attempt to yell. "No, Zuko! Don't!"

I raised my hand to stop them and looked at her, confused. "Sam?"

"Arrest them, Zuko. Don't kill them," she looked at me and I knew she saw the confusion on my face. Her eyes were wild with conviction. "I'll explain later. Just please trust me. I think the rest of their party is close by. They are planning on heading to the Capital City Prison. We need to get there as soon as humanly possible." I looked at her puzzled and concerned. She looked at me, exasperated.

I nodded, although I didn't fully understand. That would come later. I, of course, chose to trust her and turned back to my men, "arrest them. Find the others. We will transport them back to Capital City where they will go to the maximum security prison until I figure out what to do with them." I turned to one of the guards, "I need you to make haste to the Capital City Prison and make sure extra guards are posted there until I figure out what is going on."

They all nodded and prepared to obey my commands.

Before setting out, Shen approached me me, bowing, "Your majesty, Hirshu is here with them. And also Sam's neighbor from Ba Sing Se." This whole situation angered me, more than before. What in the name of Agni was going on?!. I couldn't think about that right now. I returned to Sam. I cocooned her in my cloak and then gently lifted her in my arms in a bridal carry resulting in a moan from Sam. She was still limp from the chi-blocking but she seemed to be getting some control back. Her head rested on my shoulder and her arms were resting on her body.

I walked over to my rhino. I had one of the men put a blanket over the front of the saddle where Sam would be riding. I wouldn't have her straddle it this time. She would sit side saddle in hopes that it would be less painful for her. I handed her off to Jok so I could climb onto the rhino, leaving room for Sam, just like I did when I first brought her to the Fire Nation. Jok and Shen carefully lifted Sam up onto the saddle. I took hold of her upper arms and helped them guide her into place. We gently sat her down onto the saddle. She winced and hissed in pain. She grabbed my arm, squeezing it.

Jok, Shen and one of the guards searched the area for the others. I wouldn't know the outcome of that until they returned to the palace. They then would lead the prisoners back to Capital City. They would take a different route that would get them there much quicker. They were also able to ride faster than Sam and I were. Our prisoners were restrained with rope on their feet to prevent fleeing and their hands were tied to each other and then to Jok's rhino like a train. Shen followed behind them. They would walk back to Capital City.

I stretched my arms out on either side of her holding the reins - one in front and one in back of her. She and I set out to ride, but slowly. I didn't want to jostle her too much. We headed straight back to the palace. Sam sat sideways so her right side was against me, her legs dangling off of right side of the beast. She seemed to be getting more and more control back with each passing moment. Her head bobbed with the movement of the rhino and I could see she was falling asleep. She probably hadn't at all since she was taken. She leaned her body against mine and laid her head on my chest, resting. She was clearly starting to get the use of her arms back. She finally broke through her numbness and started to cry, burying her face in my chest, then pulling back and wincing as she smashed her nose against me making it bleed anew. She wrapped her left arm around my neck and her right arm went around my the back of my waist, pulling herself closer to me, looking for comfort and safety. I resolved to steer the rhino with my left hand while my right wrapped around her, holding her firm but careful to not hurt her injuries, although I was pretty sure she didn't care.