Wow, it's been awhile. Sorry. I hate it when other authors do this, and here I am taking forever to release chapters. But here you are, fresh off the presses.

Chapter 6

Deep in the bowels of the Fire Nation Palace there was a room guarded by four men who held their lives in their hands daily. A misplaced word from them even ten meters down the hallway would have earned them a knife or two in the back. These men knew to keep silent about anything and everything they heard and saw. The room they guarded held neither riches nor treasure nor military secrets. In this room, lit by a single candle suspended on a black chain, lived a secret that would have exploded the fragile ties of peace that held the nation – and the world – together.

The disheveled, dark-haired man who paced from wall to wall was this secret personified. It had been his advice – his ambition – that had set treacherous wheels in motion. But it had not been his idea.

The calm, well-dressed woman who now sat at the only piece of furniture in the room – a simple wooden desk – knew the secret. She had implemented it, driving the plan to its ultimate conclusion. But she had not driven alone.

This secret was known only by these two people, a select and trusted few others, and one who had masterminded it all. If all of them had their way, it would remain a secret indefinitely.

"I gave him the brat just like he asked. I would rather have killed him and had done with it. But no, he had to stay alive. It would be BETTER that way. Better? When the Fire Lord could escape, waltz right back into the throne room and ruin everything?"

"Kaito…" The woman calmly called his name. Of course that wouldn't happen. Even now, Jiro and Kuro were steadfastly guarding the Fire Lord's prison cell. They were so dedicated to Kaito it was amusing. But Kaito was too riled up to pay attention. It was a habit of his.

"Why am I hiding behind a woman instead of ruling the Fire Nation?" Rina made a face, but Kaito chose to ignore it. She wouldn't hold a grudge for long. Kaito clenched his fist and almost slammed it into Rina's desk, but thought better of it when he noticed a nice tray of delicate pastries he might have upset. He surreptitiously took one, maintaining his glower while he turned away from Rina to cram the pastry into his mouth. Hmm. It was good. It would have tasted better if he were FIRE LORD.

"Calm, Kaito. You will rule. You are ruling, through me. And you must be patient. Master Phobetor told us the people will not accept an outright coup. They will only accept me as their Speaker because they think I am engaged to their Lord. If they knew he was really holed up in a prison cell, they would slaughter us. Master Phobetor promised us, and he has never lied to us."

"Still not completely okay with that, by the way. Why did you have to go and get engaged to him?"

"Are we really going to go over this again, Kaito?" Rina sighed and stood, picking up the pastry tray and walking it over to him. "Are you really threatened by a man we threw in jail months ago? A man who is now held in the Dream?" She stroked his arm and proffered the tray, knowing what he would do before it happened.

"Are you trying to manipulate me, Rina?" Kaito spun and dashed the tray from her hand, spilling the pastries everywhere. Rina rolled her eyes when he turned away dramatically. "Of course I would be unhappy when the woman I love offers herself to another man!"

"Kaito, you know I never loved him." Rina almost sighed again as she rattled off the well-rehearsed words. "You're the only man for me. I would never leave you for such a-" Let's see, which comes first? Oh, yes – "horrible, sickly, greasy, badly-dressed little brat like him." She crossed her arms and waited patiently.

Kaito slowly turned (as expected, glancing down somewhat mournfully at the ruined pastries) and gave Rina a petulant smile. "That's right. He is badly-dressed, isn't he?"

"Of course, dear."

"And sickly."

"Yes, dear. Shall we go? I have a meeting with a few of the nobles, and I know you wanted to rehearse what I should say again."

"After you, my dear."

As Rina sauntered past him out the door, Kaito quickly bent down, grabbed a few pastries, and shoved them under his robe.

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"NO!" Zuko didn't even know what to think. He couldn't think. All he could see was Katara looking up in horror before disappearing under the weight of a massive rock. It played over and over and over in his mind, a horrible reverie he couldn't seem to pull himself away from.

His despair was beautifully eradicated when he felt delicate arms weave around him from behind, one around his waist, and the other over his mouth. He smelled flowers and felt the heat of a body pressed against his back. "Zuko." It was Katara. She had escaped!

"I'm getting you out of here." Her almost silent whispering sent goose-bumps along the back of his neck. He strained to hear. "But you must do exactly what I say. Your life is in danger." Zuko lifted his eyebrow as Katara spoke to him, his eyes trained on the horrid little manipulator who was now gleefully skipping over to the stone block. It splayed its fingers, gripped the edges of the smooth stone, and lifted the entire thing over his head. It made a surreal image, this pseudo-man easily flailing a house-sized boulder over its head. But when it realized that no dead body lay beneath the stone, it shouted in rage. The stone disappeared. "Where is she?" It spun to face Zuko.

"Don't move." Zuko realized that Katara had removed her hands from his mouth and his waist. He could still feel her body heat behind him, though.

The creature's face morphed from anger to confusion and back to rage. "What? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HIM, YOU LITTLE WITCH?" With a stomp of its foot, it disappeared. The grassy field disappeared along with it, leaving behind nothingness, a void so dark Zuko couldn't even see his own nose if he crossed his eyes. He almost panicked, but remembered that Katara was still with him.

"Katara?"

"Shh. You're still being manipulated. Don't move a muscle. If you do, he'll find you much more easily."

"What? I-"

"Shut UP, Zuko! I'm protected from his vision. He only saw me earlier because I wanted him to. That way I could get close to you without him noticing. But you're not protected from his sight. He could probably see you even now if he comes back and finds us here. I used a quick technique Roku just told me about to hide you for a bit. But I'm no good at this stuff. So just…don't say anything, okay?"

Zuko nodded, even though she probably couldn't see him.

"Now, according to Roku, the only way to get you out of here is to give you a taste of something…real. Something that you will recognize as real with every fiber of your being." He felt Katara move around in front of him. "He said it would have to be something extreme." She placed a hand on his shoulder and inched closer so he could feel her warmth bleeding through his robe.

His heart rate increased perceptibly. She couldn't feel that through his shoulder, right?

"So I'm really sorry about this, Zuko. I hope you can forgive me."

She wasn't really going to…I mean, sure, it would be real, but they hadn't even seen each other for more than five minutes…then again, she did look beautiful. And the darkness would make it much less awkward. And that flower scent was driving him a little bit mad. Zuko started leaning his head down to help.

He felt less like helping when he felt Katara slap him across the face. Hard.

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When Zuko opened his eyes his disorientation was complete. The sky above him was overcast and darkening fast. But as he lifted his head, he could not understand where he was. Long weeds everywhere obscured his vision, and a harsh breeze lifted his hair from his forehead. What had he been doing? How did he get here? He vaguely remembered something hitting him – no, not something. Someone. But he couldn't bring to mind who – who that person was…

He struggled to sit up, realizing he was in quite a lot of pain. His stomach clenched and every motion reminded him he had been the victim of some sort of attack. He couldn't remember what had happened to him, though. He glanced down, not wanting to focus too much on his injuries, but the seeping blood was enough of an indication that he needed some sort of medical attention.

His eyes took in the barren scenery around him, recognizing nothing until they landed on a still form dressed in white. He could make out dark, long hair and a tan arm which lay at an uncomfortable-looking angle.

It all came back. "Katara!" Zuko struggled to shift his weight forward, reaching a hand out to shake her too-still shoulder. Why wasn't she moving? "Katara, wake up. Please wake up." He gripped her shoulder more tightly and he heard her gasp.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Zuko collapsed back to the ground, his energy spent. "You're alive."

"Mmm…what? How did we…where are we?"

"Search me. Ow." Zuko ran a hand over his face, wincing. "I don't recognize anything around here."

He heard Katara shifting her weight. Her face appeared over him, concerned. "You don't look so good."

"And whose fault is that, Miss Crazy?" He coughed and winced again.

"Well, you're well enough to be funny. That's good. Let me look at you." She pulled his hands away and started easing his smelly, crusty robe from his shoulders, opening his chest and stomach to the cool air. He shivered.

"I'm sorry I hit you. I couldn't think of anything else to get you out of there. Roku said I needed to give you a taste of reality. I thought, pain. Pain is real. Stupid idea." He frowned at her as she spoke, but she was focused on his stomach.

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it. If you hadn't done that, we'd both be in trouble." Katara's eyes still brimmed with remorse, so he sought her hand with his. She looked up at him. "You saved my life. Thank you."

A small smile broke her sorrowful expression and it was all he could do not to grin back. When she glanced down at his torso, her smile disappeared. "What did they do to you, Zuko? This is awful."

"Yeah, it doesn't feel amazing, I'll admit."

"It looks like they were torturing you for months, from the scars." She pulled some water from a nearby puddle and coated her hands with it. "Well. I can't promise I can get rid of every scar, but I will try my best. This may take a while."

As she worked, she spoke, seeming to purposefully avoid his eyes as she did so. Zuko took this opportunity to study her face – the deep, smooth skin, the long lashes, the full lips…she really was beautiful, and the years had only ripened her appeal.

"I still don't understand what exactly happened. Every other time I've been in the Dreaming, I've woken up where I was before I Dreamt. How did I –we – get here?"

"I don't know." Zuko stared up at the sky, trying not to twitch awkwardly as her hands roamed over his now burning skin. "My body was injured in there. Maybe it's not so much a dream as another reality. We just came out a different way."

She humphed noncommittally, and Zuko had to admit the answer wasn't hugely satisfactory. But how did one explain sudden transportation across space? It wasn't any sort of bending skill he had ever heard of.

His thoughts were cut short as her thumbs found his neck. He choked a bit and coughed. "Wha-"

"Scars here, as well." Katara's mouth turned down and she sighed. "I'll just see if I can –" and she slid her water-encased thumbs along the sides of his grizzled neck, pausing below his ears. Her fingers curled around, brushing against his too-long hair.

"Uh…" The word was more involuntary than Zuko cared to admit. Her hands felt too good for him to classify them as medical assistance any longer. And that meant he had to stop her before he did something he would regret.

At his outburst, she looked up, a question on her mouth. He spoke before she could ask. "You've done enough. I feel much better." She opened her mouth to complain, but again he stopped her, grabbing her wrists and gently lifting her hands from his neck. "Really, Katara. I know this takes a lot of energy. I'm fine."

She sighed and sat back, eyeing him suspiciously. "You might have a fever, Zuko."

"Fire bender, remember? I'm always this hot." This seemed to mollify her. He sighed. He had been healed by Katara before, and every time exhaustion seeped into his body afterwards.

And as the light faded further, his struggle to keep his eyes open failed and he fell into a dazed sleep. But before he drifted off completely, he thought he felt a warm body stretch out next to him on the ground, and a quiet voice saying, "I'm glad you're okay."

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