Chapter 11: The Princess of the Fire Nation

There are three things Zuko learned when dealing with princess Azula. One, don't ever interrupt her more than once. Her patience does not extend too far. Two, don't tell her what to do, or show any kind of dominance over her. And lastly, just shut up. Unfortunately for the captain, or as Zuko learned, the advisor sent to monitor the princess, he did not realize or acknowledge these rules.

After the final outbreak from the advisor, when Azula had told him to shut up multiple times, her temper reached the limit. The ground below him exploded in blue flames, enveloping the advisor's body, and drowning out his screams. Zuko watched open-mouthed in shock as the man crippled to the floor, the fire quickly burning through his clothes. After a terrifying second, she waved her hand out, taking the fire with her. All that was left of the advisor was a ruined body, black and broken. He realized it looked just like the bodies in the crate before. Zuko suppressed his voice, and looked back up. This lady was a princess of the fire nation. He had been fighting seriously with a member of royalty. He was sure he would be sentenced to death any moment now.

"Throw it off," she said. At her command, three soldiers ran forward to the scene, and threw the remaining body parts into a crate. Or at least, what they could grab. The bones were reduced to ash at their touch, and blown away. Then, the large box was thrown overboard, breaking into the ocean depths. She stepped over the burned spot and approached Zuko. "Your name?" she asked for the second time. Zuko remembered Gansu's advice about using a false name when the need arises. He smiled under the faceplate.

"Lee," he stated, remembering the small boy. Azula showed no reaction to his words, but simply reached her hand out below Zuko's faceplate.

"Remove it," she commanded. Zuko froze. Had she realized that he wasn't one of their soldiers? Had he wrecked everything he promised to Katara in that split second? Was she going to kill him? He inclined his head and slowly raised a hand to his face. He would have to try and grab Katara and run. Something. He refused to die here. Zuko grabbed the bottom of the mask and pulled it down, revealing his face to the princess. Her expression didn't change the slightest; she simply stared at him, and took the white mask from his hands. "Younger than I thought," she remarked, while swiftly throwing the faceplate into the ocean. "But no matter. Lee, from today, I appoint you as the new lieutenant of the firebending infantry on this ship." Zuko was surprised at her words and frowned. Azula paused, noting his reaction before continuing. "Your predecessor failed to carry out my orders properly... and met an unfortunate end. Do not fail me, Lee." Her voice was icy and dangerous.

Zuko wanted to back up yell in frustration, things were too sudden. What's going on? Didn't she notice I wasn't part of her team? Is she overlooking it? No, she was definitely not the type. Then does she not realize…? Azula turned on her heals and began to walk to the large double doors. "Report to my room at sunset." And with that, the fire nation princess walked forward and disappeared behind the doors.

After her exit, there was a sudden mass of groans from the men who were knocked down. The ones who weren't fatally injured pushed themselves up and stared at Zuko. None of them decided to say anything, they only picked up the other fallen soldiers and started to walk out of the deck. Where was Katara? He had lost her during the sudden fight. Was she blasted overboard from an impact? He began to panic, and his heart thundered against his chest. Almost all the soldiers had limped, or carried along past Zuko, only giving him a small glance. Suddenly, he felt a small jab in his back. He reflexively turned and came face to face with another soldier, with a mark on the mask.

"Ka—" he began to say. Her hand quickly shot up and covered his mouth, stopping his words. He stared wide-eyed at the girl, the feeling of relief flowing throughout his tense body.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Zuko nodded at her. His heart still pounded and he was out of breath, but he was grateful Katara was still with him. "We should follow them," she said. Her voice was almost completely drowned out; he could barely make out what she was saying. But he nodded and followed the last couple of soldiers off the deck.

Zuko never got the chance to appreciate the inside of the ship on his hurried trip with Katara. But following after slow, staggering soldiers, he got a clear view of the rooms. After stepping downstairs, they passes by what seemed like a nursery. Injured soldiers were set down on a cot and the ones that could still walk, continued down the hallway. They walked into a vast room that seemed to take up the entire floor of the ship. It seemed way to big to house only the few dozen soldiers that walked in. Thin blankets were sprawled over the metal floor. After Zuko and Katara walked in, the heavy metal door automatically shut behind them.

Suddenly, there was unexpected cheerful holler from the soldiers and they ran up to Zuko.

"Wow, sir, I've never seen you before, but what you did back there was awesome!"

"Seriously, I don't think princess Azula has ever been pushed back like that."

Soldier after soldier, they came up and complimented him, a few roughly shaking hands. Zuko nodded and gave them a weak smile. They had removed their masks as well, and Zuko was shocked to see many of them were his age, or slightly older. There were a few with baby faces that he thought were younger. He looked over at Katara who still hadn't removed her mask yet. Even if she pulled her hair back, he thought her face was too strikingly beautiful to be mistaken for a man's. Plus, her tan skin combined with her brilliant blue eyes would stand out too much. But none of the soldiers seemed to question her stand still. They shuffled away, spreading out on the floor, massaging their arms and legs.

"She's seriously crazy..." said one man. "Just because the other team failed, she puts her anger on us. I don't know how many more tantrums I can live through." The other men silently nodded at his words.

That's why she attacked? He couldn't believe it. He was wondering why she was attacking her own soldiers with such killing intent. But then again, she did kill the chubby captain without warning or emotion.

He glanced over at Katara, and motioned for her to follow him out. They pulled open the door and stepped out into the hallway. There were two stairwells at the each end of the hall, their path lit by flaming torches. They silently walked down to the lower level until they reached the dark, crate filled room. Once arrived, Zuko lit a fire in his palm and checked that their equipment was still there and finally let out a sigh of relief. Katara started to remove her armor, gently lowering them down at her feet.

"Katara," Zuko called, promptly spinning to face her and grasping the sides of her face. "Are you okay? Hurt? Burned?" He looked over her startled face, and craned her face to check her neck.

"Z-Zuko," she stammered, trying to pull her face back. "I'm okay! Really!" He felt her hands fumble with his in the darkness. He breathed out and gently slid his hands off her face.

"What happened during the fight? I thought you had been hit…" he said, igniting a fire again. She shook her head and readjusted her clothes. She sat down, leaning against the crates, and motioned for Zuko to sit.

"Those guys aren't normal soldiers, Zuko," she replied, as he situated himself on the cold floor. "They're all firebenders. I thought it would looks suspicious if I didn't fire bend during the fight, so I pretended to be blown away with the first hit." He nodded understandingly. That was true. The normal soldiers didn't have their face masked and their armor was lighter. "What about you?" she asked. "I thought you…"

He looked down at his chest plate. Azula's hands had melted through the bottom half, the print of her fists still evident. "Don't worry about it, it just looks—Ow!" Zuko attempted to turn his torso and lift the armor off, and growled when a sudden stinging pain shot below his ribs. The small fire disappeared from his palm and they were surrounded by darkness again.

"Oh my god, you were injured," she frantically whispered. He felt her hands reach out to his abdomen and feel for his chest plate.

"Arrhg—" he cursed again when her hand brushed over his damaged skin.

"Sorry!" she quickly apologized. Zuko lifted his hand again and called for fire. Their surrounding glowed a light orange, and Katara finally found the straps that held his chest plate down. She quickly pulled them apart and pulled the ruined chunk of metal off his chest. Why hadn't he felt the pain before? Now that he was aware of his injury, it seemed to burn with every passing second.

"I need water," spluttered Katara. "Water, water…" she muttered shifting around.

"Katara…" he croaked out. She seemed too frantic to listen. Katara hurriedly pulled her armor back on and stumbled towards the door. "I'll be back! I need water, don't move, Zuko." She called before darting out of the room. His face twisted in pain, unable to stop her from leaving. The burn stung harshly, and every breath pulled on the skin, making it difficult for him to breathe. Just how scorching was her fire? Zuko was amazed yet frustrated with the height of princess Azula's power. The fire in his palm blazed wildly with his control lagging.

His view of princesses had completely changed. He had originally thought they were treasured young girls, who looked pretty, and were quiet. Princess Azula was nothing like that. He remembered her cold, calculating eyes—something he wished never to face again. Her precise and rapid movements combined with her blue firebending were absolutely terrifying. He would have never thought he would be working under a princess one day, much less meet one.

The pain around his abdomen was starting to get worse. He couldn't think clearly anymore. Where was Katara? Was she okay? He wanted to hold her face again; it seemed to fit perfectly between his hands. His breathing became shallow as he tried not to think about his injury. She was late. Every passing second felt like an eternity he had to endure in agony. He blinked hard, trying not to lose consciousness.

"Zuko!" a voice shouted. He could barely lift his head to the sound. Quick footsteps approached where he sat, and a pair of cool hands touched the sides of his face. "Stay awake!" she called out to him. He let out a low groan to let her know he was still there. She hurriedly threw the helmet off as it was partially blocking her vision. Katara slowly pushed him to the side, forcing him to lie back on the cold ground. She fumbled with the bindings on his robe and finally, pulled them apart. He heard her gasp.

"This is awful," she choked. There was a moment of scuffling and something dragging across the floor. Then, a sudden wave of relief and a cooling sensation replaced the stinging pain. His whole body seemed to feel lighter and relaxed. The familiar light blue glow from the water illuminated the room. The fire from his hand disappeared Zuko could finally breathe again. He let out a heavy breath, but felt no pain from his burns. The glow lightened Katara's face, and he could see her concentrating heavily on his wound. He had relied on Katara again… when was he ever going to pay her back? Before he knew it, they had spiraled into a crazy mission to save her brother, sneaking onto a fire nation ship, and battled with the princess.

Zuko was slowly starting to drift off. After his breathing stabilized, and the pain from his body receded He wanted to sleep. There was a nice feeling around his chest and he didn't want to move. He heard faint noises that seemed to get louder and closer every second. Someone was breathing heavily, quietly gasping above him.

Katara.

Zuko quickly pulled his eyes open forced himself awake. Katara's face was beaded with sweat, she was breathing hard, and her hands trembled above his chest. He abruptly pushed himself up and grabbed her hands. The water dropped to the ground with a splash.

"Katara!" he cried. "Are you okay? What…?" Although he couldn't see her face completely in the darkness, he could hear that she was exhausted.

"You weren't… waking up," she muttered. "So I thought…I was doing something wrong. I thought… like Sokka…" Her voice started to crack. Zuko couldn't believe it. He ran his hand over his abdomen and felt no pain. It felt completely smooth and normal, as if nothing had happened. Amazing. His entire body felt restored, even the soreness from the mountain journey seemed to have faded. Katara breathed hard next to him, looking down.

She had never been strong and okay with the situation in the first place. He figured she didn't like showing worry, or her discomfort incase it burdened someone else. She was scared he would be taken, like Sokka. Before pulling his robe back on, Zuko swung his arm over Katara's neck and brought her in an crushing hug. He felt her cheek squish against his chest muscles, but she made no move to pull back.

"Sorry," he whispered. "But I'm okay now, I'm not going anywhere, Katara." He pulled his other arm over her and started to pat her back. "I'm not going to leave you here by yourself. Never." Katara let out a couple deep sighs and nodded against his shoulder. Her body slowly stopped shaking. "I promised I would protect you, so trust me… Don't hold everything in."

Zuko felt water trickle down his chest—no, tears. Katara cried silently against him, sniffling every few seconds. He pulled his hand up to her cheek and gently wiped away the tears that stained her usual happy face. Of course she was stressed about losing Sokka. The poor girl had to infiltrate a fire nation ship that wants to capture her for unknown reasons when they have her brother. No girl would be fine under these circumstances. Zuko held her close, resting his chin on top of her head and swore he would protect her, no matter what.

The sun was beginning to set. It was completely dark inside the bottom floor, but Zuko could feel the sun's energy slowly fade away. Katara had fallen asleep on him, but he was glad she could trust him enough to do so. He didn't want to wake her up, but he also didn't want to leave her alone. Zuko silently groaned. He wished the princess hadn't called him at all. But he had a feeling that if he were late, there would be dire consequences. Zuko gently lifted her off and set her against one of the crates. She didn't stir, so he guessed that she wouldn't wake up in the short time he was gone. Such a deep sleeper, how cute. He smiled to himself, and picked up his broken armor. He quickly tied his robe, situated the metal plates over his body, and started to walk towards the door.

"I'll be right back," he spoke quietly to Katara, and ran back up the stairs as fast as he could.

The wind blew strongly against him on the deck. He walked up to the large double doors, took a deep breath and knocked. The doors opened for him almost automatically, causing Zuko to step back in surprise. Two maids stood at each door and gestured him in. He cautiously stepped in and almost gasped. The room was immense; the interior was decorated with red and gold intricate designs trailing on the walls. The entire room didn't seem to fit in with the rest of ship. A long table was set in the middle of the room, with many beautiful chairs around it. Suddenly, a door from the back wall opened, and Azula emerged from the hidden room. Her burnt clothes and arm guards had been replaced, making her seem wholesome and defined. She looked almost surprised to see Zuko there, but settled for an emotionless stare.

"Lee," she camly stated, as the double doors slammed shut behind him.

A/N: A sudden ending! Sorry for cutting it off so abruptly, the chapter was going to be too long if I ended it at the point I wanted it to. But I'm pretty happy with the content of the chapter. Katara and Zuko finally had some lovely moments in a dark room all by themselves. Heh. It was pretty fun to write, I have to say.
I had to do some extra research on the degree of burns and incase you guys wanted to know, Zuko received a third degree burn (or something of the sort). The reason why he didn't feel his injury at first because the nerve cells were burned and damaged, making the pain receptors malfunction. The actual pain was from around the main area of injury, where the nerve cells were still intact. Also, it's really difficult to completely burn bones to ashes, but I wanted to emphasize Azula's strength, and the heat of her fire, so the poor interrupting advisor was the sacrifice. (Yay for science).

See you guys soon! Review! (: