*Disclaimer—I own nothing of Avatar: The Last Airbender*

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Chapter 8

"Katara," a soft voice said. "Katara, wake up."

The waterbender let out a groan as a blast of pain flew through her cheek.. "What happened?" she heard her raspy voice say. She rubbed at her jaw, but pulling her hand away quickly as she felt a bandage over her sore cheek. "What the fuck happened?" she quickly got up off of the bed, but immediately fell onto the floor. She could not walk, her legs would not move. "Kang!" she cried out, almost in tears. "What's happening to me?"

Kang hastily ran over to his ex-lover, helped her up from of the floor, and helped her sit back down in the bed. "Katara you have to be quiet, they'll hear you."

"Who!" she yelled, trying to sit up, but again being pushed back by Kang. "Lemme go!" The waterbender placed hand on her throbbing head. She felt nauseous as she tried to remember what had happened to her. "Zuko, where's Zuko?!"

Kang shook his head and frowned. "The firelord has some…important meetings to attend at the moment, Katara." He lied, sitting next to the waterbender. "Katara you have to calm down."

Katara frowned at the firebender, but calmed herself down. "Kang, what happened?"

Kang took a deep breath and swallowed. "It's Mai."

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"I don't deserve this," Zuko mumbled.

"You don't," Mai mumbled, setting out a tray of hot tea and biscuits in front of him. "But seeing you in this condition has softened my heart to doing something nice for my husband." She leaned over him and kissed his forehead.

The firelord took a small sip of the hot tea, sighing softly. "This is great, Mai, thank you." Raising his uninjured arm, he placed his hand on her cheek and softly pecked her on her lips. "But what I don't understand is how I got hurt." He looked over himself. Even though he was lying in the bed, he could see how he was injured. Besides his sprained arm, his cheek burned and his shoulder felt like it had been popped out of joint.

Mai, keeping a calm expression, shrugged her shoulders. "I already told you what happened, Zuko." She wiped her hands on a warm towel, "you and Kang were sparring earlier and you got a concussion from hitting your head against the ground."

Zuko frowned, but took a bite of the biscuit. "My head doesn't hurt."

"Then the healers did their job well," she answered quickly. "Seriously, Zuko, if you don't believe your own wife maybe you should go ask Kang yourself."

He smirked, taking another bite of his breakfast. "I'm too comfortable to do anything at the moment." Mai smiled at his compliment. "Besides, I rather be right here with my wife anyway."

Mai grunted. "That's a change. Usually you'd have your nose up in some paperwork right now." She chuckled softly at his confused expression. "Never mind, I had some of the generals take care of that, so you don't have to worry."

"You let them into my office, didn't you?" Zuko asked with a small frown. "Maybe I should go check up on that; they don't know how I want things, and they usually mess up what I want them to do it." The firelord sat up in his bad, moving his feet over the end of his bed.

"You didn't even finish your breakfast, or your tea," she held great emphasis on the warm drink. "C'mon, Zuko, you should rest. The healers said that you needed rest before you got up to do anything."

"I think I'll be ok, Mai," he placed his feet on the floor and pushed himself up. "I'll be back; I just want to make sure my office is okay." The firelady hastily walked over to her husband and pressed on his shoulders, ushering him back in his bed. "Mai, lemme…"

Mai shook her head. "Zuko, let me check up on them. It's the least I can do in the condition you're in, right?" Zuko smiled, but allowed his wife to put him back in his bed. "I'll be right back." With those last words, Mai made her way out the door, shutting it softly behind her.

Zuko finished the rest of his biscuits, but decided that he did not want to drink anymore of the tea. It tasted, honestly, disgusting. "Mai must've made this," he shook his head slowly and stood up. Walking over to a plant, he poured the liquid into the soil. "Next time I'll have Uncle help her." He chuckled to himself.

Three loud knocks interrupted the firelord's ministrations almost making him drop the china cup. Walked towards the door, he unlocked the two locks and opened the door, surprised at the visitor who stood in the doorway. "Katara…w—what are you doing here? What happened to you?"

Katara walked into the room and quickly shut and locked the door behind her. "Zuko, you have to listen to me!"

"Whoa, Katara, what's up? Did you and Kang have another fight?" Zuko stared at the bruises the waterbender had on her arms and face. "Are you okay, did Kang do that to you?"

"No! Will you shut up and listen to me?" she sat on his bed. "Kang didn't do this to me, it was Mai, she did this to me, to us, to everybody! She's planning something, Zuko!" Zuko crossed his arms over his chest, slightly confused by the waterbenders rants. "Did you ask Mai how you got those bruises? Did she tell you?"

Zuko looked down at himself and raised his eyebrows. "Yes, she said Kang and I were sparring yesterday and I bumped my head when I fell. What's going on, Katara?"

"She lying!" she yelled. "Your wife fucking tried to kill me!"

Ignoring the language his ex-lover was giving him, he frowned again. "Why did she try to kill you, and how did she try to kill you? Katara you are not making any sense. Mai just left to check on my office and—"

"Forget the office, Zuko! Shit! What the fuck is wrong with you?" she asked staring into his golden eyes. "Do you not remember anything that happened last night?"

He shook his head. "Should I have?

Katara slapped her forehead and groaned loudly. This was going to be more complicated than she had thought it would be. "You don't remember anything, nothing at all?"

"No."

"Not even when you…when we were together?" she blushed slightly, remember the evening as if it was just a second ago.

Zuko swallowed, "I don't, Katara, what happened?"

"Nothing." Katara waved her hand, dismissing the topic, a little disappointed that he had forgotten "How can you not remember?!"

"Mai said that I got a concussion from hitting my head when I was sparing with Kang."

Katara felt the urge to hit the firebender for believing such a ridiculous lie. "I thought you said that Kang never beats you? How could he have beaten you this time?"

"Luck," he said, but was not quite sure himself.

"I don't think it was, Zuko," Katara stated, more seriously this time. "Kang told me everything…"

"Everything about what?"

"Just listen…"

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"They don't understand you," Sokka spoke. "I tried telling them that you had changed, but they just won't listen to me." He was walking back in forth in the princesses room. "Suki is just stuck on the fact that you'll never change. I think Zuko and I are the only people that believe you've changed."

Azula smirked, studying the watertribeman intently. "Well, maybe because they haven't seen this side of me yet."

"Well, they also don't know that you are here, too, so that's also a problem," he said, finally sitting down. He reached for her hand and held it tightly, placing it on his thighs. "I'm going to make things right ok?"

Azula rolled her eyes and looked away pointedly, trying to hold in an oncoming blush ineffectively, though not pulling away from him. "As if you have the power to do so."

"Zuko is on my side and I'm sure I can manipulate Aang to be on the side if Katara gets dragged along." Sokka spoke hopefully. "I'm not going to let go of this, 'Zula, I won't give up on you."

Her golden eyes stared back at his blue ones, surprised at his determination on her. "Sokka I—" but was quickly cut off when the watertribeman closed his eyes shut, leaned in, and pressed his lips against hers.

Azula did the exact opposite to what he had just done, her eyes growing wide in shock as she began to process what was happening. This…this was so unexpected. A peasant, Sokka of the Watertribe was kissing her, Azula, princess of the Firenation. She gasped in surprise as he started to deepen the kiss…she had to do something…Slowly closing her own eyes, Azula kissed him back and began moving her own tongue against him.

As quickly as it started, it quickly ended with the pair both taking in deep breaths from the passionate kiss. Sokka was the one shivering now, not knowing what to make of the act that he had started with the fire princess. Slowly getting up from her bed, the watertribeman said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that…"

Azula rolled her eyes. "But you did, and it happened."

"I know what I did," Sokka said, with a slight blush growing onto his face.

The princess sighed, but held her attention on the young man. "Don't worry, I won't tell Suki, or anybody for that matter."

He swallowed and cleared his throat. "I should go. Um…I'm gonna go tell Zuko about this, I mean, you being here in the palace." He nodded at his words and quietly slipped out the room.

Azula smirked at the silly reaction he gave her. Lying back down in her bed, she placed her fingers over her lips. Closing her eyes, she could still feel the young man's lips over hers. She ran her tongue over her lips and sighed, what had she gotten herself in to.

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"We have to tell the others about her," Zuko said, a saddening frown growing onto his face. "I didn't know she felt this way about us. What did we ever do to make her this angry?"

Katara shrugged. "I'm guessing she figured out about our past relationship." She sat next to him on his bed. "Or maybe she found out about what happened before the dinner…" Zuko blushed. "Either way, she thinks we're sleeping together."

"Are we the only people that know about this?" he asked.

"Besides, Kang, yeah." Katara placed her hands over her eyes and sighed dramatically. "This was all a mistake. I shouldn't have come back to the Firenation, Zuko. It's obvious that we both still have feelings for each other." Zuko did not answer, but she was sure he was agreeing with her. "Maybe we were meant to be, Zuko, maybe—"

"Katara," Zuko raised his hand to cut her off. "Maybe I should talk with Mai about this…I'll make her understand that we aren't—

"Oh, well, look at this," a familiar voice said, interrupting the ex-couple, "the firelord and the waterwench in the same room. Oh, well this should be entertaining, shouldn't it, Zuzu." The individual strolled into the room, closing the door behind her. "Why the face, aren't you happy to see your little sister?"

"Azula…" Zuko whispered. "W—what are you doing out of the asylum…Sokka never told me that you were out. How did you…?"

Azula rolled her eyes and laughed. "Please, Zuko, save that babbling. Sokka was going to tell you some time soon, I think," she shrugged. "Nevertheless, I came here looking for you. But I am surprised to see that you are here with her."

"It's not what you think, Azula," Katara said.

She scoffed. "I bet it's not, but I don't care, Zuko may do as he wishes."

"What do you want, Azula?" Katara continued.

Staring at her nails with great interest, she said, "Well I came here for my brother, mostly, but I guess you can listen in too." She looked over towards where the firelord still stared in awe that his sister escaped the asylum. "I hope you don't expect me to go back to the asylum again, it was so disgusting. Besides, Sokka and I both believe that I have changed and that I should be able to live back in the firenation as a princess."

Katara scoffed. "Sokka will believe anything."

"Maybe so," she agreed, "but your brother has changed me and…I am very thankful for the time I spent with him."

Zuko shook his head and sighed. "I won't let you go back to the asylum, Azula. If Sokka believes that you have changed than I do too." Katara grunted. "But there are more important matters to discuss right now and we may need your help."

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*Please Read and Review! Late update, I know, but I have been doing the college life and I haven't had a lot of free time to post chapters. And from writing English essays to Lab reports, writers block has been very dominant these days, but I decided that I should post something just so that you'll know I'm still here. Probably not my best chapter, it's short, but it's an update. I promise that next chapter will be better and not as rushed. So there you have it CHAPTER 8. Thank you for all the reviews!*