So... long time, no update. Terribly sorry bout that. Anyway, here's the next chapter.

All established fanfic alienation apply to this work.

Read and review, please. Even if you just say 'correct use of quotation marks' or something like that. I tend to glorify ever review.

And... I would put in a synonym for 'enjoy', but they all seem to have innuendos attached. Thus,

Enjoy the story.

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The Counsel Chamber had never been so quiet, Zuko noted from his perch behind the flames. Every member of the counsel, plus more, was looking terrified. All eyeing him nervously, averting their gaze to the floor when he met their eyes. It was a nice change.

Seeing no reason to wait, Zuko began to speak, his voice tight and words clipped. "I think we're all aware of why we're here." His voice rang sonorously around the chamber. The senators watched him with close intensity, measuring his tone.

The young Fire Lord glared down and continued, clasping and unclasping his hands within his lap. "My sister, Azula, and Lady Katara..." His breath caught. "...the Ambassador for the Southern Water Tribe, have gone missing. We would be fools to assume the two incidents are unrelated."

No one argued.

Iroh shifted beside his nephew. "Zuko, if you want-"

Zuko cut in, interrupting his uncle with angrily. "I want men out to look for them!" he demanded, clenching his fists. "We need to bring them back unharmed! I want them alive!"

One senator gave his lord a coy look and rolled his eyes, whispering to his neighbor, "The greedy brat wants his toy. Everything is an object to him."

"SILENCE!" Zuko roared, standing up and seething, the flames curling around him, reacting to his will and revolving about the room, coiling around the columns and shooting from where they perched. "This isn't about my personal life! This is about our relations with the Water Tribes and my duty to protect my guests! How dare you suggest otherwise! I want Azula and Katara back unscathed and immediately!"

At that, some of the men spoke up.

"But, sir!"

"If Azula has-"

"Or is!"

"-harming Lady Katara in any way it would-"

"Require punishment!"

"Death, even!"

They broke off as the ground beneath them rumbled, the room shaking thunderously.

Zuko's eyes narrowed dangerously, the flames spiking upward and complementing the quaking to a terrifying end. "Lady Katara would not want Azula harmed, regardless of whether Azula has harmed her."

The counsel was silent, all shocked and confused.

Zuko pursed his lips, glaring at his loyalists. "I expect no less than 50 parties of men searching within an hour, and more on the city walls keeping a look out. Travel in all directions- any direction! I want a full scale search mounted at this second!" A messenger scurried away, the orders clutched on paper in hand.

"If any one besides Azula has harmed Lady Katara in any way, I expect them to be brought to me in chains. If her attackers are not brought back, I will be severely displeased. Lord Tonzai, you will see to it that this is done with utmost efficiency."

The calmly gazing senator nodded, his young face nonchalant. Iroh gave Zuko a begging look. Zuko wasn't right. The uncle tried to read his nephew; fear? Anger? Hurt? The emotions rolled within his nephews' eyes wildly. Zuko was ready to explode.

"Any Questions?" Zuko snapped. It was less of a question and more of a dare.

No one answered, not daring to anger the Fire Lord any more.

"Dismissed," Zuko snarled coldly.

The chambers emptied in record time, the senators a buzz of whispered conversations and silent conveyances. The sea of red, black, and yellow robes turned again until Zuko was left alone to his thoughts and uncle.

Zuko rose, Iroh reacting immediately.

"My lord, I-"

"Save it, uncle!" Zuko growled, flames sparking from the floor. "I don't need to hear it! I have everything under control!"

"Zuko..." Iroh begged, heartbroken.

The Fire Lord wheeled and left the chambers, slamming the doors behind him and not bothering to extinguish the fires.

"I'm going to find you," he vowed, rounding a corner and clutching the fabric of his heart, burning but dry from tears. "Even if it kills me."

oOoOoOoOo

Iroh gazed at the spot Zuko had left and bowed his head, filled worry over his dear nephew. Zuko was too young to be dealing with this pressure, this many emotions, all at once.

Iroh shut his eyes and listened to his heart beat, the call of memories of his own younger brother at near same state when he was the same age. Zuko looked more and more like his father every day, but Iroh only feared that the taught coldness Zuko knew he had inside of him would one day grow too.

Iroh shook his head and opened his eyes in a second's flash. No. Never. Zuko would never be like his father. He had learned too much to veer to that path. Iroh sighed. What love could do to a young man's mind. It seemed incalculable at times, and Iroh knew that this was a blow to Zuko's pride. Iroh thought that at times the only reason Zuko got up in the morning as easily as he did was so that he could just catch a glimpse of the waterbender. Iroh smiled sadly. Young Lady Toph always complained about his pulse and how erratic it became once Katara had entered the same room as him.

Iroh then frowned and stared at the door his nephew had slammed shut. But this is much bigger than that, he remembered. Zuko was willing to admit that much. What he didn't want to admit was how close he was to going mad with worry and irrational fears.

Iroh stood up and charged through the doors, rushing as fast as his legs could carry him to his nephew's chambers. Zuko couldn't be left alone for long. If Iroh knew his nephew in any rate, he knew what signs Zuko had to display to leave him unable to remain in tact without a soothing company for long, his rationality falling by the second.

Iroh knocked gently but loudly against the wooden pane of Zuko's door. "Nephew," he called. "We need to talk."

"Go away..." Zuko moaned, his voice muffled by the door.

"Open up! If I find you've locked your door again-"

"It's open." Iroh flinched as Zuko dismembered his hanging threat.

Iroh sighed.

"I don't want to talk!" Zuko snapped.

"You mean you do not wish for counsel? Zuko, counsel is everything you need right now."

"No, it's not!" he argued, a crashing sound echoing his voice as if something had been knocked over.

Iroh closed his eyes and nodded. "Perhaps a friendly ear for listening would do, then?" he offered.

Zuko paused, and after a brief silence snarled. "Damn it, Uncle!"

Iroh smiled grimly and pushed the door open, stopping in mid-stride to find Zuko half undressed, his robes on fire and smoking through the room. Zuko squeezed his eyes shut and shakily breath, the flames simpering off till his robe slipped off in embers, his milky flesh unharmed. Zuko opened his eyes and pursed his lips, a guilty expression across his face.

"It wouldn't come off..." he murmured, staring at his ruined imperial robes.

Iroh smiled. "There are other ways to undress yourself, nephew," he reminded gently, lifting what was left of the garment and letting it fall into the trash can.

Zuko trembled. "I don't doubt it," he stammered hoarsely, slipping from his tee shirt. His uncle smiled and stopped in front of the wooden dining table across the far center of the room, heating the soothing tea in the pot and pouring his despondent nephew a cup. Zuko scowled, recognizing the smell.

Iroh talked absently as he poured. "If you're going to vent through firebending, this herb will help. You'll get better results than from the clumsiness that tends to happen when you're angry and uncontrolled."

"I'm NOT ANGRY!" Zuko cried, fuming.

Iroh looked at him and raised an eyebrow, holding the cup between his palms.

Zuko stared at him, wrinkling his nose. "What even makes you think I'm going out to train, anyway?"

Iroh's eyes widened and he dropped the tea, rushing to block the door before Zuko could run through it. Iroh grabbed his struggling nephew by the upper arms and held him in place. "Where do you think you're going?" he questioned firmly.

Zuko seethed, grinding his teeth and fighting against his uncle's grip. "To find her!"

"You just sent 50 parties out to do that, Zuko," Iroh reminded.

"The men don't care enough!" Zuko protested, lifting his legs up and kicking backwards, landing on his back against the floor, rolling away. Much more in control than the last time something like this had happened, Iroh noted thankfully. Zuko crouched, prepared to escape if his uncle took some sort of action. "They don't want to find her! They don't want to put forth the effort it'll take to bring her back! They're all incompetent! They don't even like her!"

"That's not true," Iroh retorted, quickly shoving Zuko back as Zuko charged for the doors again.

"I need to find her!"

"And you will, nephew, but now is not the time!" Iroh caught Zuko's arm mid-swing, bending him around and pining it gracefully behind his back.

Zuko snarled and shoved, wincing in pain whenever he tried to move away.

"Nephew, this is futile. Struggling now is just pointless," Iroh attempted calmly.

Zuko began to hyperventilate, still fighting. "Let go of me!" he pleaded desperately.

"Zuko, your men will not dare to fail you," Iroh assured, still keeping Zuko in his hold., but relaxing his grip. "They live to serve you and be in your army. They realize the importance of their mission. They want her back just as much as you do."

"That's not true!" Zuko panted. "They won't search hard enough! Fast enough! You're lying!"

"I never lie!" Iroh snapped firmly. "I wouldn't dare lie to my own nephew! The nephew so much like a son to me!"

"I need to find her!" Zuko pleaded. "Let me go!"

"ZUKO!" Iroh growled, twisting him around and shoving him into a seat. "CONTROL YOURSELF!"

Zuko slid from the seat, shaking in fear. "I... No... Pl... You..."

He pushed against the wall and buried his face in his hands, still trembling. "Katara..." he moaned.

Iroh inhaled deeply and kneeled before his nephew, once again overcome with concern. "Zuko..." he whispered gently.

Zuko didn't answer, remaining completely still.

"Zuko, you are the youngest Fire Lord in history and have been given an enormous burden before your time," Iroh said. "Everyday I watch you fight and struggle for what you believe is right, but an important lesson for you to realize is that when you work yourself into this cycle, this state- even the littlest thing will make you break apart. Don't let these emotions destroy you from the inside. You are the Fire Lord for a reason and everyone under your command believes in your talent."

Iroh put his hand on Zuko's shoulder. "They believe in you. Which is why your armies will stop at nothing to bring Katara back to your awaiting embrace. You sitting here, buried under your grief, does nothing to help her."

Zuko lifted his face from his hands, his eyes red and wet. "Then what does something, uncle?" he begged, his voice cracking.

"Calm yourself," Iroh suggested gently, "and then proceed to plan where you think she may be using logic and knowledge of the grounds around you that your men may or may not have. You grew up in this city and know the land and the ways about, and in, it. Utilize what skills have never failed you all these years, especially the ones during banishment."

Zuko looked at the floor, covering his mouth and frowning, deep in thought.

Iroh squeezed his shoulder, giving Zuko a warm smile. "She'll return safely," Iroh reassured. "I promise."

"What if it's too late?" Zuko looked at his uncle. "What if she's too far away? What if she isn't even in the Fire Nation? What if she's-" He stopped as a look of horror crossed his face.

"It's in these times we need hope the most," Iroh said wisely. "Believe in Katara. She's a cunning young woman and dangerously powerful. Under her madness, Azula isn't capable of much more than sparks."

Zuko smiled weakly at the image of his once all-powerful sister reduced to a beginners level.

Iroh stood up, leveling his gaze with Zuko once more, his eyes twinkling knowingly. "Have faith," he reminded and turned around through the door, closing it softly behind him and leaving his nephew to his thoughts, confident that Zuko was under control now.

oOoOoOoOo

Zuko moved out to his balcony to think. He always thought better where he could see. He stood at the rail, his hands clenching and unclenching the sturdy wooden bars that wrapped around its rim. His eyes traveled over the land before him, seating the city with an eagle's eye.

Zuko's eye narrowed in on a pond near the center of the city. It seemed to be going down. Yes, it most defiantly was. But... How? Ponds -especially ones of that size- don't just disappear. And There was no waterbender standing near it.

That pond was a spring. It connected to underground water. To the waterways beneath the bunkers.

There were caves down there.

Azula knew those caves. She had hid in them when they were kids. He was never sure how far down the caves went, but Zuko was willing to bet that the caves would go down farther than the bunkers.

He was willing to bet no one was searching down there. Tonzai was very smart, but he didn't know of Azula's childhood habits.

Zuko pushed himself away from the balcony and quickly grabbed an outer rope, remembering Uncle's reprimands about station dress codes, before rushing out of the rooms. He sped down the the hallways, rushing to Lord Tonzai office.

He found Tonzai about to leave.

"My Lord?" Tonzai asked, bowing to Zuko.

"Did you send men to search the bunkers?" Zuko asked, trying not to snap.

Tonzai shook his head. "No, My lord. Should I send some?"

"Yes," Zuko told him, "You should. My sister had a fondness for the bunkers, along with the caves beneath."

Tonzai bowed again. "I will send down men at once, sir."

Zuko didn't bother responding to that. "I will be on the rim if you need me."

Tonzai bowed, and waited until Zuko had left before moving.

Zuko was out of sight within a second, and hurrying up to the rim of the crater Caldera resided in.

oOoOoOoOo

The Rim of Caldera's crater was a huge wall, the width of five men laying head-to-toe, and as tall as twelve. In it's current state, every few meters, a man stood, searching the ground for signs of the missing people, and avoiding the Fire Lord's gaze when he passed by.

Zuko was pacing around the rim, making record time. Every time he passed a man, they would stiffen. he scowled, looking over the wall and down to the slope of the volcano. Where was Katara?

He stopped and walked over to the wall, searching. He'd seen something... There. Two figures, Walking up. His men, walking down to them. The two walking up were too far away to bee seen clearly, but... there was nothing that way for as far as one could see, save the ocean. It had to be her.

Zuko watched as the distance between the two parties closed. Zuko looked over his shoulder, finding an officer.

"Send a note. I want and airship, at once." Zuko ordered. The man bowed, and minuets later, a hawk flew away. Zuko returned to watching the two parties.

Not even half and hour later, a small airship arrived. Zuko climbed aboard, and directed them to fly to the two parties. He stood at the rim of the ship's deck as it flew, quickly covering the distance. His eyes latched onto the two people climbing uphill, noting that one was dressed in blue.

The two parties met. Zuko watched as Azula - or he guessed it was her - attacked a soldier. He was still to far up to do anything, which killed him. He watched as a soldier made to attack back.

Below him, a huge circle of plants died, the water sucked out. Water swirled around the blue girl. Katara was alive.

A soldier shot fire at the waterbender.

His heart stopped.

Without thinking, without considering the distance between the ship and the ground. Zuko leapt off the edge, tumbling throughout the air as gracefully as a bird. He landed hard on the ground, and took off running. He needed to save Katara.

oOoOoOoOoOo

So... this is where it got to cheesy for me to continue. So... When I can find a slightly less cheesy way to end this - which will happen before July - there will be the end.

So... Comments/critiques?

Thanks for reading!

=^.^= 文芸猫