Cause you told me that I would find a hole,
Within the fragile substance of my soul
And I have filled this void with things unreal,
And all the while my character it steals

Darkness is a harsh term don't you think?
And yet it dominates the things I see.

—Roll Away Your Stone, Mumford & Sons

Ozai is furious in his cold, cold way.

Zuko can no longer wear his crown on top of his head, as his hair is too short. He's managed to pin his crown to the front of his silken shirt, but it looks fairly ridiculous. All of the servants that he passed in the halls this morning either smirked at him or hid their laughter behind their hands.

He was too humiliated to yell at them.

Now he's in the Fire Lord's office and his father's scrutiny is making him sweat.

"How could you act so foolishly?" Ozai asks with obvious irritation as he laces his fingers together on top of his desk.

Zuko swallows. "I do apologize, father. I was not thinking clearly at the time."

Ozai's gaze narrows in at his son. "Princes of the Fire Nation do not wear their hair like mere peasant boys. Do you realize how idiotic you look at this moment?"

Zuko ducks his head. "Yes, sir."

Ozai lets out a low, disappointed sigh and Zuko feels shame crawl up his spine. "Nevertheless, your new choice in hairstyle is not why I called you in here." His upper lip curls and his mouth forms a snarl. "You were seen the night before last, in a brothel, Prince Zuko." His voice lowers dangerously. "What was my son doing in a brothel?"

Zuko's head twitches a bit as he tries to move his bangs out of his line of sight. "I was trying to find Azula."

"You were playing cards with whores!" Ozai roars. He stands up, palms laid out flat on top of his desk. "You were seen drunk, being dragged out of the establishment by that waterbender!" After a beat he straightens up, walks around his desk and stands in front of his son. Zuko feels his fingers start to tremble, so he quickly folds his hands together and places them behind his back.

"Azula," Ozai says slowly, "might be a little out of sorts in her current state, but at least she knows how to act with some decorum!"

Zuko nods quickly. "Father, I'm truly—"

His words are cut off when Ozai smacks him in the back of his head. Zuko stares down at the floor and forces himself to bite his tongue.

The Fire Lord pokes Zuko in the shoulder. "You will never embarrass me like that again, do you understand me?"

"Yes, father."

"And I do not want to hear another word about that waterbender leaving palace ground with you, either. You're to start her Interviews as soon as possible."

All the words that Zuko had been about to say suddenly stick in the back of his throat. "She only just turned seventeen, father. Perhaps we should wait a little longer until we start her Interviews?" It's a lie, technically. Zuko really isn't sure how long she's been seventeen. She could already be eighteen, for all he knows.

Ozai seems unfazed. "I don't see why that matters all that much. Start them." His frown deepens as he gives Zuko one last once over. "Leave."

Zuko immediately turns around and walks out of his father's office without a word.

He wakes up a couple of days later next to a cook's assistant.

He's slept with her before, which is probably why she rolls out of bed, gathers her clothes, and makes her way to the door without making a sound. She's familiar with Zuko's routine.

Her watches her silently from where he's still lying in his bed. It feels like something heavy is sitting on top of his chest, which he thinks is unusual and unpleasant. It's like he's feeling guilty, and Zuko doesn't like to feel guilty over things as casual as fucking.

The young woman pauses, her fingers curling around the doorknob. She turns back to Zuko and ducks her head in respect. "Have a wonderful day, Prince Zuko. It was a pleasure, as always," she says politely.

"Tai," Zuko acknowledges her with a nod of his head.

The girl's green eyes go wide and she looks shell-shocked. For a long moment she stays completely still, gaping at him.

Scowling, Zuko sits up in his bed. He doesn't like it when people linger in his room like this. "What?" he snaps out, growing irritated.

Tai blushes and lowers her gaze. "I apologize, Prince Zuko, it's just that you've never bothered to remember my name before." And with that she exits the room, making sure to close the door quietly behind her.

Zuko stares at the space where she had been standing for quite some time. She had a point; he usually never bothered to remember his playmates names. It had always seemed inconsequential to him. Scoffing, he climbs out of his bed and makes his way into his bathroom.

That stupid waterbender is beginning to rub off on him. How annoying.

After a late breakfast and three cups of tea, Zuko forces himself to go to Katara's room. If he were to say that he hadn't been avoiding her these past couple of days then he'd be lying to himself. Ozai's orders had left him with a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. Katara would not take well to being paraded in front of a bunch of potential suitors like a prized horse. Her Interviews were going to be…interesting, to say the least.

He dreaded breaking the news to her.

When he rounds the corner to the hallway where her room is, he sees a swarm of guards, more then there should be, crowding outside of Katara's room.

Zuko's footsteps quicken automatically. He shoves men roughly out of his way as he reaches to shove open her door. He has a bad feeling. He has a very bad feeling.

The first thing he sees is the waterbender covered in blood.

He immediately scans her, trying to see where the blood is coming from. If someone has harmed her then they would have to be punished, severely and swiftly.

"It's not mine." Her voice is small, much smaller than he's ever heard it before. He walks right up to Katara and crouches down in front of her. The metallic smell of the blood hits him like a ton of bricks and he wrenches back, wincing.

"Then whose is it?" he asks, eyes looking over the room. Zuko thinks that everything seems in order until he notices the broken window.

Katara gestured to one of her silken pillow cases. It's sitting on the floor, and after a moment Zuko realizes that she's stuffed something inside of it. Something that's leaking.

Steeling himself, he stands up straight and parts the opening of the pillow case and peers inside. He sees matted, bloodied hair. He lets out a breath and backs away.

"You there." He points to Katara's head guard. "Take this head and bring it to the mortician. I'll be there in ten minutes to help identify…it, er, them."

The guard is already turning green, but he ducks his head and gathers up the pillow case anyway. Zuko waves away the rest of Katara's guards away and as soon as they leave he rounds on the waterbender.

"When did this happen?" he spits out furiously. "Why wasn't I informed immediately?"

Katara still looks thunderstruck. She gets up off the floor and plops down on the edge of her bed, expression blank. "It only just happened. It just, it came in through the window. I don't even know how you'd be able to reach that window but…" she trails off, suddenly looking sick. She presses her wrist against her mouth as if to hold back her own vomit.

"Do you need a bowl?" Zuko asks. His voice comes out softer then he'd expected.

Katara slowly shakes her head. "No. I'll be okay. I just need a minute."

So Zuko gives her a minute. He grabs the chair by her desk and straddles it, never taking his eye off the waterbender. More than one minute passes and Katara starts to grow more and more distraught. Finally she lifts her head and meets Zuko's gaze. "It must be a warning of some sort, from you sister. I guess she's telling me to stay out of this, this game you two are playing!" she exclaims shrilly, accusation crossing her face.

"You think that this is a game?" Zuko growls, leaning forward. "This is something much beyond that. You have no idea, no idea what it's like, what being her brother is like." Then he snaps his mouth shut, forcing himself to be quiet.

Katara doesn't seem intimidated by his harsh tone, but the accusation on her face dies. It's replaced with pity. "People are being murdered over a sibling rivalry." She looks disgusted and for a long while Zuko can't bring himself to meet his golden eyes with her blue ones.

He doesn't feel ashamed, but whatever he does feel is close enough to shame to make him feel on edge. He decides to change the subject slightly. "It's not a warning."

Katara rolls her eyes. "I don't see what else it could be."

Zuko frowns. "You don't know my sister. She's never been courteous enough to warn people before she hurts them. That's not how she works." He taps his fingers against the wood of the chair. "This message, it's an invitation."

Three hours later he's back in his room, writing a letter to his Uncle and sipping on a cup of tea.

He thinks he might actually send this one. Maybe. Perhaps.

The truth is, he'll probably end up sticking it in one of his drawers, the one where all the other unsent letters are. There the letter will sit until he either forgets about it or writes a new letter.

This time, instead of sticking it in the drawer, he slides the letter over to the corner of his desk. Maybe he'll remember to send it later, or maybe he'll set it on fire.

He picks up his teacup and finishes his remaining tea in one large gulp. He still hasn't told the waterbender about her upcoming Interviews. Part of him feels a little sorry for her, since she had a decapitated head thrown into her bedroom this morning. He wonders if maybe he should leave her be for the rest of the day, and deal with talking to her tomorrow. But he can't. He needs to settle this conflict with Azula once and for all.

Besides, Zuko has never been one to procrastinate because he's anxious about something. Zuko is not a coward.

He forces himself out of his desk chair and leaves his room. Ten minutes later he's knocking on Katara's door, eyebrows already furrowed in concentration.

When she answers her door he notices how pale she looks, paler then he's ever seen her before. Her eye is wide and nervous and she glances over his shoulder to check if anyone is behind him.

"Yes?" she grits out, a little unsteady on her feet.

"We're going out. I have to talk to you about something important."

Her visible blue eye narrows a little. "Don't think I don't remember what you said earlier today. Azula sent me an invitation by way of head. I'm not going anywhere."

Zuko almost snorts. "You used to be a bounty hunter and you're scared?"

Katara looks offended. "First of all, I worked with a bounty hunter. I assisted her, that was all. Second of all, most of the people that we looked for weren't psycho princesses wrecking havoc on her own Capitol City."

"Careful," Zuko warns softly. "I wouldn't insult Princess Azula in front of so many witnesses."

Katara glances around her, for the first time realizing that Zuko is still standing outside of her bedroom, and that her guards and random servants are still in complete earshot of her and Zuko's conversation.

Her shoulders slump in defeat. "Can't we just talk inside?"

Zuko's eyes flick to the side of her face that's covered with her hair. He can't look her in the eye, not after what he's about to do. "No, we can't. Be ready in five minutes."

She grumbles furiously underneath her breath, but five minutes later she's ready in her simple black clothes. Zuko reminds himself that he'll have to get nicer outfits made for her, especially before she starts her Interviews.

He leads her outside of the palace gates, but he doesn't lead her to any specific district. He takes her to a restaurant that's located right outside of the palace, just before the marketplace.

The both of them are seated immediately. Since he is the Prince, he's given priority seating. He and Katara are immediately brought a pot of jasmine tea. Katara moves to pour herself a cup, but Zuko stops her. She frowns at him, but her blue eyes lights up with understanding as a woman in a fancy dress and a painted face slides up to them with a smile.

Zuko jolts in surprise. "Ty Lee?"

"Hello, Zuko!" she responds cheerfully, placing one hand on his shoulder and picking up the teapot with the other. "Is it just you and your new plaything this evening?"

Katara's frown turns into a scowl.

"She's not my plaything," Zuko corrects his old friend sharply. "But yes, it's just the two of us this evening." He scans his golden eyes around the restaurant, trying to remember every detail about the place. Unfortunately, he doesn't see who he's looking for.

He looks back up at Ty Lee. "Since when did you start working here?"

Ty Lee gives him a sultry smile. "It's fun," she says, putting emphasis on the last word. "You know how I like to have fun, Prince Zuko, and how I enjoy giving other people a good time as well." She shrugs. "Plus, I'm getting paid for it."

Zuko glances back over at the waterbender. Katara is staring at her empty teacup and looking completely unamused.

Finally, Ty Lee pours them both their tea and trots away, promising to return with the Chef's Special.

Zuko laces his fingers together and props them up on top of the table, ignoring the fact that Katara is staring two holes into his forehead.

"So," she begins, "what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Zuko grimaces, dread already forming in the pit of his stomach, but it doesn't matter. He never gets the chance to tell Katara about her Interviews in that moment.

Because the person he had been scanning the restaurant for earlier is now standing in the middle of the floor. Her piercing gold eyes meet up with his and Zuko feels a wave of anticipation wash over him.

"On behalf of your Princess, I must ask everyone to leave immediately!"

Noise erupts all over the restaurant as customers realize that the Mad Princess Azula is standing under the same roof as they are. People rise from their chairs and sprint toward the front doors in a panic. Zuko, however, remains in his seat, calmly watching his sister revel in the chaos.

"Did you use me as bait?" Katara accuses, her eye alight with fury.

Zuko is too excited for the conversation to come to feel ashamed. "I told you, that head was an invitation."

Katara slams her first down onto the table. "An invitation that I didn't want to accept, you selfish bastard!"

Zuko rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "You helped me find my sister. You should be proud of yourself."

Something flashes across Katara's face: fear. For the first time since this morning, Zuko begins to feel guilty. He didn't mean to drag the waterbender into this mess. He could understand why she might be afraid. The words pop out of his mouth before he can think them through. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you."

Katara's blue eye widens in shock and she quickly looks away from him, a blush blooming across her cheek. "Whatever," she mumbles.

Zuko looks back toward his sister. She's watching him from where she's standing in the now empty restaurant. "Zuzu," she greets, head cocked to the side.

"Azula," he returns. "You've been up to no good lately, don't you think?"

Her gaze narrows but she smirks. "Up to no good? Why, Zuzu, I'm just trying to make a statement, that's all."

Zuko stands up and takes a few steps toward his sister, trying to seem like he isn't intimidated by her. "If by 'making a statement' you mean 'upsetting father', then yes, I'd say you're making one hell of a statement."

Azula's smirk slips a little. "Father should be proud of what I'm doing."

Zuko gives his sister a cold, calculated smile. "He's not. He's just embarrassed."

Azula lets out a cry of frustration, her blue fire coming to life in her palm. Zuko knows that he should feel apprehensive; his sister is an arguably better bender than he is, but he feels nothing. No fear, no pain, no anger. Just complete satisfaction that no matter what Azula does, Zuko is still the one that is on top.

He walks toward her, dodging fireballs and firewhips alike. He hasn't even started to bend yet, but right before he reaches his sister she darts back out of his reach.

Now she's standing on top of a table and she's no longer bending. She suddenly looks calm and collected. "Father is simply suffering from a temporary lapse in judgment. He'll come back to his senses soon." It sounds like she's saying it more to convince herself then to convince him.

"Really? From what I can recall, after the best trackers in the Capitol were sent out to find you but were unsuccessful, Father didn't even care. He didn't even have them executed for their failure. He just sent them on their merry little way."

Zuko almost laughs at the infuriated expression on his sister's face. "Face it, Azula. I beat you at your own game. Father sent out the order and I'm the one who answered him first, not you. I'm the one who is going to be Fire Lord, I'm the heir to the throne. Not. You."

Azula's upper lip curls into a snarl. She pulls back her arm, blue fire blazing in her palm, and Zuko takes in a deep breath slowly, preparing himself to dodge her fire and then unleash his own counterattack.

Then Azula's head jerks to the side. Blood from a long, thin cut dribbles down her cheek.

A small ice-dagger is sticking into the wall a ways behind Azula.

Both Zuko and his sister turn to stare at the brave, though stupid, waterbender. Katara is looking at Azula, mouth gaping open, stunned, as if she can't believe that she just sliced open the princess's cheek.

"You'll regret that little stunt, waterbender." And then Azula is flying at Katara and Zuko is moving before he can even process his own thoughts. He knocks his sister to the side before spinning back and kicking up fire at her.

Azula quickly rolls to her feet, but instead of continuing her assault on Katara she turns to the corner of the restaurant and shouts, "Ty Lee!"

Zuko's old childhood friend melts out of the shadows, still in her nice dress and face paint. She gives Zuko a somewhat apologetic look before somersaulting over to Katara and jabbing her in multiple places across her torso. Katara collapses, legs no longer able to keep her upright, and as she falls to the floor she hits her head on the table.

Something snaps inside of Zuko, and he turns to his sister with nothing but menace in his veins.

But Azula has already put away her fire, a smooth expression on her face. "Honestly, Zuzu, I'm not here to fight you. I just wanted to talk to you about what I'm doing. I guess, when I come back home, we can try to settle our differences again."

"You're not welcome back home," Zuko snarls. "Father and I will make sure of that."

"Don't be so dramatic, brother." Azula says with contempt. "I'll be back home soon enough. And I will take back what is mine." She looks toward Katara and regards the now unconscious waterbender. "She's got spine. She's really making a wonderful addition to the Project. I imagine her Interviews are coming up soon?"

It's here and now that Zuko understands that his sister is well and truly mad. How she can go back and forth from murderous rage to talking about the Project, Zuko doesn't understand. Katara was right; Azula has completely and utterly snapped. He wonders if his sister will ever go back to being as she once was.

"Yes." Zuko takes careful steps in Katara's direction, quickly looking over her body for any signs of blood. Thankfully, he doesn't see anything.

"I see that the two of you have become friends," Azula observes. "That's why I sent the head through her window, not yours. I knew you'd take my message more seriously if I sent it to her, not you." With a cool smile his sister turns and disappears out the back of the restaurant, Ty Lee right on her heels.

Zuko stands still for a long moment, processing what Azula had just told him. Then he scoops Katara into his arms and makes his way out onto the street. It's nighttime now, but at least there aren't too many people wandering the streets just yet. The last thing he needs is for people to see him carrying a passed out waterbender back toward the palace.

As he crosses through the palace gates, Zuko begins to wonder if he's just as mad as his sister. And not because he had felt like he'd wanted to kill his own blood, and not because he'd felt so eerily calm in the midst of confronting his enemy. It's because he hadn't felt anything at all.

Halfway to Katara's bedroom the waterbender wakes up and demands to be placed on her feet.

"You'll fall," Zuko warns, but Katara squirms in his arms anyway, so he sets her down. Her knees buckle and she falls. Zuko doesn't help her get back up, instead choosing to watch her slowly climb back to her feet.

When they reach her bedroom, Katara waves him inside and then swiftly closes her door behind her.

"What the hell was that back there?" she says, voice low.

Zuko is now bone tired. He plops down on Katara's bed and looks at her from where he's lying. "A conversation between siblings," he states with a casual gesture with his hand.

Katara huffs and crosses her arms across her chest. "What did you mean when you said that you'd beaten her at her own game? And when you'd said you'd been the first to answer your father's order? And why did you bring me in the first place? And why did your sister send that head into my bedroom and not yours? And what was with that creepy chi blocking—"

"Shut. Up," Zuko grumbles. "None of the answers to those questions matter right now."

Muttering to herself, Katara pulls off her black clothes, leaving herself in only her under wraps. Zuko starts to feel hot, even though he's lying on top of her covers. Then he remembers what Katara did for him earlier. "Speaking of questions, why did you attack Azula? I would've handled myself perfectly fine without your assistance."

Katara walked to the other side of the bed and glared at him, indicating that he needed to get up. "If you're not going to answer any of my questions then I'm not going to answer any of yours. And for the record, your 'I won't let anything bad happen to you' spiel was total bullshit. That stupid waitress took away my bending and then knocked me out." She tugs on her blankets, once again signaling that he needs to get off her bed.

"Actually, you hit the table on your way down and knocked yourself out. That wasn't really Ty Lee's fault."

With a roll of her eyes Katara climbs under the covers on her side of the bed before rolling over and facing Zuko. Her hair falls back and away from her face, exposing her scars. She doesn't try to cover them up again. She looks tired, Zuko notes. Her eyes are already half closed.

"My sister called us friends," he says quietly, almost to himself.

Katara snorts from where she's laying at his side. "She's wrong. I hate you, you stupid Prince." But moments later she's fast asleep, and Zuko realizes that, despite everything, a level of trust has developed between the two of them, otherwise she would've never climbed into the bed.

For some reason this makes him feel light, lighter then he's felt in a long time.

He falls asleep soon enough.

He wakes up to a knife at his throat.

A/N:

*dramatic music and then… DUNDUNDUN!*

If that last scene seemed vaguely familiar to you, it's because I shamelessly stole it from The Vampire Diaries. Not the conversation, of course, but the whole bed thing. Delena is one of my other favorite ships, and since Damon was one of my inspirations for how I'm characterizing Zuko in this story, I felt it fit.

I've gotta say, I'm pretty happy that I managed to update this story twice in under one month. Just barely, but still! I'm hoping to be able to update this story more frequently, so fingers crossed!

I hope everyone liked this chapter! Make sure to leave a review with your thoughts! :D