A/N: Sorry this chapter and the upcoming few are a bit shorter than previous ones. But please review when you finish! It does help inspire me to keep going for you guys. I often go through writers block quite frequently unfortunately.

Also, it is 1am right now and I am absolutely exhausted. I actually woke up to post for you guys because I forgot to add this chapter last night. So you better believe you guys are important to me, haha. This story will for sure have a happy ending, I promise. But we got a LOT more chapters to go before that point comes. (;

Happy reading!

CHAPTER 5

"Zuko, what happened!" I tore off the dark robes from his body, not leaving a single moment for me to admire his strong muscles beneath. This wasn't the time. As soon as he shrugged them off, his weight plundered into me. At first, I didn't know what to do, but I knew that he needed to be held. My arms enveloped Zuko and I held him as tight as I could to me. Everytime he weeped, a tear slipped out of the corner of my eye. I knew he needed this. And after all he had done for me, I owed it to him. He helped me when I needed him. My heart ached for him, yet, I still didn't know what had actually happened.

"My father," He paused to take in a deep, heavy breath and talk correctly. "He-he made me kill that man. I had to prove my loyalty. And I-I, I ripped out his heart after I sliced his chest open, while he was still alive." I gasped, shocked, and I knew I could never understand what he was going through. Not only was that torture for the man he killed, but it was for Zuko, too. "It, it was horrible Katara. I hate him. I hate my father." He started to weep again. "I hate this Katara. And I have to act loyal to him until I can someday overrule him." I held his head against my chest, whilst his breathing came bated. It was new to me, and probably him, as Zuko was letting himself go completely in front of me.

"I know, Zuko. And I am so sorry. No father should ever make someone do that. Especially their damn son! Ozai is a horrible father." I continued to hold him in my arms, clutching him so tightly. Soon, his crying died out after almost ten minutes. When he pulled away, I wanted him back, but I realized my breasts were soaked with his tears. He looked at me suddenly, and my heart melted. As I looked into his golden eyes, I saw through Zuko. He was sad and lonely, he needed to be loved. He needed to feel loved. I felt like I could see hidden parts of him that he didn't even know about. His eyes told me a story without words. I suddenly wanted to fall into him.

"Zuko, why did you have to prove your loyalty to him?" I was curious, yet I figured that I already knew his answer.

He looked away from me and stared at his, still, bloody hands "I was supposed to capture the Avatar to redeem myself- you know that. But I didn't. Azula and her men did. I was allowed back in the Fire Nation a few days before you had arrived at the palace. And when I passed you in the hallway, I was on my way to talk to my father about the Avatar and why he was letting me return. He told me he needed me for something, and then said I would eventually need to prove my loyalty to him. But to further explain how I got you, instead of him, I had to beg him for you. I told him that Mai didn't want to go that far in our relationship, and I needed someone who would." His words confused me, since he did stumble here and there.

"Why did you want me? Er- I mean why did you want to save me from him. I was apart of the reason you had never captured the Avatar." After I spoke Aang's title, I grew sad, and depression laid over me like a blanket.

"Ever since my Father allowed me back home, I knew I wanted to change. I didn't want to be cruel and mean like him. I want to be nothing like him, and have nothing to do with him. When I saw you, I knew I might be able to redeem myself by saving you from him, and the other men, and keep you for myself. Although, I never planned on using you in such ways. I can't stand using women as so. They're not objects or things that we can do with it what we will. Girls are just the same as men, but my father believes differently." So all along, Zuko was trying to be a better person, a better man. I felt awful for ever thinking of him badly. Although the rest of the Fire Nation were barbaric savages, Zuko was different. And here and now, he was proving it to me. I knew I trusted him, and I believed now I could trust him with my life. He has saved me several times..

"Katara, I am so sorry for anything I have done towards you and your friends. I'm so sorry if I hurt you or anyone else in the process of capturing the Avatar. I'm changing myself, or trying to at least, but my anger remains the same. I really am trying, though, to be and act different from my Father." Zuko's voice turned into a harsh whisper, and his voice cracked.

My Gran-Gran would want me to forgive him, everyone deserves a second chance, this was Zuko's third and final chance. But I was sure this time was different. He wouldn't betray me as he did in Ba Sing Se. He's different.

"I know Zuko, I don't care about all the things you did against us, it's all in the past." I spoke my words carefully next, "I know that you have a hated towards your father, for good reason too. But isn't there a small part of you that even a little bit loves your Father?" Zuko looked timid. Even though a small part of me hated my dad for leaving all those years ago, leaving us to thrive and prosper on our own, I still loved him. But maybe it was different for Zuko?
"Maybe when I was a boy, but he is a coward! No one could ever love him, he is unlovable. Azula doesn't even love him, she only uses him to gain power one day to destroy me." Zuko, the man who was neglected by his father and thrown into the real world to capture someone nobody else could, who has been through so much devastating torment and loss. He did have a heart, like everyone else.

Later that evening I bathed Zuko, not even just to stare at his masculinity, but to help soothe him, and cleanse him of the man's blood. He didn't speak once throughout the time I bathed him, only stared at the wall ahead of him. After his bath, I let him dress himself, and have a minute alone in the bathroom as he had asked for. He took almost a half hour, but I knew and understood that he would need a while to calm down and really think about what happened. After he reappeared, I joined him in his bed and played with his hair into he was fast asleep. In doing so, I was able to have a moment to think while I was calm. A moment to think about everything, mainly concerning Zuko.

I thought about what Zuko's reaction might've been when his father asked him to kill that guard. He had to of stood there, frozen in his steps, yet confident in his face. It probably hurt him so much when his father asked him to do such awful things, and I can imagine what he probably could've been thinking in the moment. Was saving the suffering and dying village worth this mental pain? For once, I regretted saving people. I wished he would have left me behind, never once mentioning the unhealthy village people. He wouldn't of had to slaughter the man where he stood. Maybe he could be happier right now, but then what would his father have done, without the instance happening, to prove Prince Zuko's loyalty to the Nation? My mind wandered endlessly, consuming my brain with only Zuko. Zuko.

Zuko POV

My father requested me to personally escort the innocent man to him, and I guessed he wanted me to do so since I accused the man of his supposed "crime against the Nation". Inside, in my gut, I felt awful for accusing this man. Someday, I knew I would make it to him, I would free him of his prison, and send him home to his family getting wealthy pay for many years to come until he found a new job to well-support his family and offspring.

When we arrived at the entrance to the throne room, I grasped the back of the prisoner's neck tightly causing him step forward at once, as he started to try and linger back, afraid of the Fire Lord's wrath in which would be inflicted about him. Already knowing that nothing could persuade the Fire Lord to think any different after being told of something, he had a fit of aggressive sweating, which led to me losing the grip on his neck. He tried to run away but tripped on the chains surrounding his ankles.

"Prisoner! If you have nothing to hide, you will not run away like the filthy coward you are!" My own words hit me hard, making me feel weak, but I couldn't act weak in front of my father. I kicked at the man's back so hard to force the air from his weakened lungs. "GET UP!" I yelled to his ears. The man got up quickly, fearing what I might intend to do to him if he didn't get up. He walked towards my father, and only stood before him. My father didn't deserve the treatment of men and women bowing on their knees, but it was a needed gesture. Using anger fueled towards my father, I kicked the back of his knees, forcing him to fall down, possibly breaking his kneecap.

"Father." I greeted my father as if it were a casual evening, although we all knew it wasn't. This particular evening would be nothing but a trial, in which the innocent man would surely lose.

"Zuko." He greeted me back, no emotion showing behind his angry eyes. "Let me, do the work for the moment. Back away." I was surprised at his words, I figured he might want my input, apparently not. Wanting to feel better in the situation, I thought of what Katara and I had done tonight. We saved a place of persistent death together, and brought life to it's waters in which it lived upon. She looked so beautiful in the dress she wore as a costume of the real, or not, 'Painted Lady'. Her makeup fit her features so well, and I admired it. Fortunately, she looked even better without pounds of makeup covering her tanned face. Purely, she was gorgeous, like a water lily. Katara's luscious brown locks fit her so well, to ever see her hair disappear would be a nightmare, one I would never live to see, her hair was apart of her, just as her bending was.

"Zuko." He questioned for me, though it was more of a demand.

I stepped forward from the darkness that enveloped me, and into the torch light, "Yes, father?" I replied back, sternly. My mind quickly forgot of Katara, and I could only concentrate on what my father might say next.

"I want you to kill this man." His words shocked me, and pierced through my heart. I felt as if I couldn't breathe. Months ago, maybe a year, I would have done it immediately, with little regret. Now, I felt such hatred towards my father for asking me to do such things to an innocent man as he was. Breathing deeply, and closing my eyes, I grabbed out my swords from the sheaths on my back, hearing a ring enter the vast room. "With your bare hands." My father grinned, vile covering his god hated face. I dropped my swords to the ground, and kept my face stern. If I waited any second longer, he would have doubt for me. I knew he was making you do this to prove my loyalty to him, to show I was really a Prince of his.

Running forward, I punched the man in the face, using the momentum from the run. Doing my best, I tried to think of this man being my father, how much pain and torture he deserved. The man tried to get up from the ground and I brought my foot down on his head, shoving his face into the ground, and breaking his nose and some teeth. I grabbed the crying man by his leg and threw him into the nearest pole, causing dust to fall from the ceiling. His whimpers were faded out, but he begged for my mercy. He begged me to let him go. But I couldn't. If I did, I would be killed for disobeying my father. Katara would be taken by him as his own and raped. My hands grasped around his head, adding pressure to his temples to cause even more aching pain, and threw him back to the center of the room, where my father watched excitedly. Walking forward, my foot stomped down on his ribs, and I felt one break beneath me. The man's screams filled the room, as his blood filled the floor, and my father rejoiced in what was music to his ears. I looked towards his hands and knew eventually my father would ask me to burn him. So I ignited a flame in my hands and let out all my energy into burning his hands. They turned a bright red, immediately after dulling into a black and crisped away. Never in my life had I heard such a terrifying scream in my ears. It pained me, and my mind hurt.
"Prince Zuko," I looked over to my father, preparing to shoot flames at the man's head. "tear his heart out, while he is still breathing." I knew exactly how. I ignited the tip of my finger and took it to the man's chest. I made a circle around his heart, and burnt my finger into his skin. Getting past his thick layer of skin and muscle, I tore open the circle of skin, and the tore the man's heart out. I looked towards his barren face and saw how much fear filled his eyes. I would never be able to save him from prison. He would never see his family again, because of me, and he was tormented mentally and physically so severely. I felt, myself, as if I would never recover from a situation such as this.

"Zuko, you have chosen wisely. I will see you tomorrow morning at the meeting." My father grinned at me as he turned away. I waited a second, to show that I wasn't scared or ready to leave him. Finally, I turned on my heel and headed to my room, where, hopefully, Katara would be waiting for me.

As soon as I walked through the entrance to my room and shut the door behind me, my knees buckled in, and I fell directly to the floor.

Katara POV

The next morning, I awoke with the sun shining into my eyes from the already opened curtains. I grinned and snuggled myself deeper into the covers, whilst finding no warmth radiating from Zuko anymore. He must've left for a meeting early this morning. Sitting up from the bed, I yawned and then stretched. Never had I woken up feeling so good after being held captive for so long. I realized, that as my mental torment was coming to an end, never ending for a while however, Zuko's torment was only beginning. I had to be there for him in any way I possibly could. He was my friend, although, of course I hoped for something a little more. Nobody could help me when I needed it, Zuko would fortunately get that treatment.

Hours, I waited for Zuko's return. I had already eaten my lunch, and it was almost time for dinner. My thoughts worried for Zuko; What if something terrible and tragic happened to Zuko? I couldn't help but think negatively after everything that happened last night. Grabbing a novel from the shelf, I read until Zuko would return. Hopefully, this time, he wouldn't return a bloody mess.

A/N: POOR ZUKO. PLEASE DON'T HATE ME.