Chapter 9

At first it was calming and allowed him to drift asleep but now it was beyond maddening. Zuko hated how the earthbenders were working to move the rooms continuously though he understood that it was to assist them if the location was compromised.

It was irritating now, especially since he now couldn't sleep thanks to what Katara had revealed to him earlier. It made no sense that she'd been torturing herself for the past few years by staying away from the Fire Nation and essentially . . . him.

Currently she was slumped over onto the bed having cried herself to sleep. Several times over he'd mentally wrestled with himself whether or not he should pull her onto the bed to make her more comfortable.

If he touched her, he wouldn't want to let go. Zuko clenched his fists before sitting up. He took a deep breath, braced his bandaged arm mentally and grabbed onto the sleeping woman gently in order to bring her onto the bed with him.

The Fire Lord went to release her but found that he could not. He hugged her to his chest and before long he was sleeping also.

Lifeless. That's how she felt locked within the confounds of the prison that was pretty much built on her behalf. All she did was eat, sleep and be subjected to ridicule by the celebrated Kyoshi Warriors. She had no hope.

Truth be told, she hadn't really been hopeful of anything throughout the duration of her life. Well, except for the hope that one day she'd find out why her mother never loved her.

She supposed that the jealousy of her brother was a definite contributor to her psychopathic tendencies. She blamed Ursa.

Azula snarled and threw her dinner bowl against the nearest stone wall. Ever since her bending had been forcefully removed, her mind hadn't been fueled by the intense rage that came with fire and electricity. She'd been thinking too much and that pissed her off.

She was angry at Zuko, Iroh, Ursa, Ozai. . .and herself. She could feel her face crumple and her eyes sting. Tears were coming. She still wasn't used to the sting of tears that came with free time and thought.

"How pathetic."

Azula stiffened at the callous sound of those words. She had been wondering when the esteemed leader of the Kyoshi Warriors would pay her a visit.

"What the hell are you sobbing for? You're living the life in here. You've got servants who bring you food. You've got your own bedroom, etcetera, etcetera," Suki snickered through the bars of Azula's door.

"Oh, go dance with those fancy little fans of yours," the former princess said calmly.

"Not today. You see, I have word from my girls that you've been sending out requests to speak with my boyfriend again. Wasn't one visit from him enough?" Suki spoke softly, "Because your behavior has been less than extraordinary lately, you're going to be relaxing in The Chamber for a while."

Azula immediately tensed. The Chamber was the part of the prison that uncooperative prisoners were sent to. She was well aware of the solitary confinement that The Chamber had to offer and, if at all possible, it drove her even more mad.

She had been stuck in The Chamber for her first two months of incarceration while awaiting her fate to have her breath of fire removed.

"Not so mouthy now, hmmm?" Suki chuckled maliciously, "This way, I won't have to worry about you spreading false information to anyone."

The Kyoshi Warrior's words caused Azula's eyebrow to flinch. She'd never had any type of hope before but she hoped that the Water Tribe peasant had taken heed to her words.

Sokka was amazed at how different it…felt to be in the Fire Nation. It was amazing how heavy the air wasn't. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply as flashbacks of his time there as a sixteen year old had reawakened causing him to grin stupidly.

"Sir, the Avatar is here," Haru spoke, a gentle smile present on his face. Sokka hadn't seen Aang in months and he was still amazed at how tall the boy had grown. In those months he'd gotten taller than Sokka. Still, seeing Aang brought Sokka back to reality.

Aang outstretched his arms and used his element to propel himself forward. He nearly pushed Sokka down with the force of his pounce.

"Sokka, how are you?" The young monk exclaimed after he released the soldier.

"Good, good," Sokka stated hoping that his face didn't betray his words.

"It's nice to hear that. Here, a carriage is here for us. There's another one here for your men."

"Great. Wait, where is Zuko? I figured that he'd be meeting me here."

"Well, he's away on business. I'll discuss this with you more when we get to the palace. You understand?"

Sokka's eyebrows rose out of curiosity and he nodded. This put a spin on things. He had received no word from Toph that the Fire Lord would be away. . .if Toph even knew.

"So who's taking care of things while the Fire Lord is away?" questioned Sokka as he climbed into the first carriage with Aang.

"Well, I am the Fire Lord while he's gone," the Avatar grinned offhandedly.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I'll be handling all affairs and dealings with the council until his return."

"So have you been training all this time to be Fire Lord?"

"Not exactly. I've learned a lot of business techniques from my past lives. They can be quite helpful when they need to be. Zuko trusted me well enough to handle things around here while he's gone. I'm honored."

Sokka noted the huge grin that spread across the younger man's face. Maybe this was Aang's calling.

Katara was comfortable. Very comfortable and warm. Here eyelids fluttered open and she took a minute to assess her surroundings. The warmth was wrapped around her like a silk scarf yet…it wasn't. She gasped as she realized just what the warmth was.

She was lying across Zuko, her head in the crook of his neck and one of her arms resting on his rising and falling chest. She took the time to appreciate where she lay.

His body was as hard as she remembered; the toning no doubt a result of his intense training regimen. She felt her heartbeat quickening due to her attraction towards him and she smiled as she realized how much she cared for this man.

She could never leave him now. She felt his good arm tighten around her which made her smile stretch even wider. Maybe he didn't want her to leave either.

His touch reminded her of the warm feeling that was felt when one looked at the sunset. Katara felt him begin to stir.

"Zuko," she whispered as she lifted her head to look at his gentle face. Katara was kind of shocked that she had awakened before him as he generally rose with the sun. Perhaps his body's clock was thrown off by his damaged shoulder.

"Damn it," Zuko sleepily muttered.

Katara lifted herself up and grinned as the man lifted his good arm and slapped his hand over his face.

"Wake up, Fire Lord. We are meeting with members of the White Lotus today."

Zuko could hear the smile in Katara's voice and he knew that despite their pointless argument the night before, everything between them was okay. He rolled onto his side and cringed. It was his injured arm.

He swore loudly before sitting completely upright. His head was so clouded with sleep and his love fore the waterbender that he'd completely forgotten about how badly hurt his shoulder was.

"You okay?" Katara asked, her hand outstretched.

"I'll be fine. Go ahead and get ready. I'm not sure what time they'll want us to meet. I'll turn around."

As he did so, Katara begin to change. At that point, she really did not care if he watched. She smiled to herself as the realization of just how sensual and bold she felt in his presence hit her. She looked over her unclothed shoulder at him to see that he was indeed turned around.

She felt slightly disappointed that he wasn't peeking and then guilty of such naughty thoughts. She could feel her cheeks burn and hurried to finish dressing.

"Done," Katara stated. She felt the blood in her body buzz. Someone was near their room, "Zu—."

"Fire Lord!" The door was being knocked on, quite vigorously. Zuko stood up, his senses on alert.

"Come in," said Zuko, his tone deep. Katara got in a defensive stance. Something wasn't right.

It was Master Piandao and a slightly beat up Smellerbee.

Smellerbee slammed the door shut behind her.

"There's an ambush. The rebels have found our location. They want us all destroyed because the White Lotus is an important icon for peace between all nations, I am afraid," Master Piandiao explained in a rush.

"What do we do?" Smellerbee questioned, her voice strained. The rebels had attacked her first. While she was a strong fighter, she was no match for a bunch of them at once so she had no choice but to run into the underground location for aid.

"There's an escape route beneath the bed. It will take you into the mountains. Go. I will stay and fight," Piandiao closed his eyes and nodded.

"No way. We're fighting too. I'm here for a reason and I won't leave until I get the information that I asked for," Zuko said, angry that he was so close to the answers he wanted but still so very far away thanks to the rebel forces.

"No. You are hurt. They will take pride in the capture and torture of you both just to prove their point. These rebels are fueled by anger and ignorance. The most ignorant point being that they are all of different nations who are working together to stop the threat of ongoing peace. I find the irony to be amazing. Now, go."

Smellerbee wasted no time and heeded his orders by pushing the bed and lifting a stone door to an escape hatch.

"Zuko, he's right. Let's go," the other woman stated pulling him gently toward the escape hatch.

"But what about my mother?"

"Seek King Bumi. He is the last person who is known to have shared words with her."

it's been a while. thanks for sticking with me. i've been super busy lately.

thanks for all of the lovely words of encouragement by way of review. :)