Hey dudes, welcome to the next chapter. But guys, I only got 2 reviews for last chapter, so please give me at least 3 for this one or I can't update. Please? *pouts*
Anyway, for those of you reading, I hope you enjoy. XD
4. We All Fall Down
The party was a blast. There was dancing and music and food and drink. The congratulations for the marriages of Zuko and Katara and Sokka and Suki continued to come.
"Suki! Did you tell him?" Katara asked.
Suki nodded, "Did you tell Zuko about you?"
Katara grinned cheekily and nodded.
"How did he react?" they both asked at the same time.
"Happy."
"Shocked."
"Girls, come on, we need to go up the front," Zuko called them both to attention.
"Everybody is waiting for us!" Sokka tried to hurry them up.
They proceeded together to the front of the room, where their friends and family were waiting.
"Hey!" Hakoda pounced forward and hugged both of his children tightly. "I am so proud of you both."
"Thanks, Dad," Katara whispered.
"And I'm happy for all of you," he announced, stepping back so he could see his new son and daughter-in-law. Zuko and Suki both smiled at him.
"Come on, Zuko, you and Sokka both need to make a speech. It's tradition!" Iroh chimed.
"Oh… ok," the Fire Lord nodded.
There was a slightly raised platform at the front of the room and Zuko stood up on it so that everyone could see him. On cue, the guests went silent and looked up to him.
"Hey everyone," he started casually. "First off, I once again must thank you all for being here on behalf of all of the newlyweds." A few people around the room cheered and everyone clapped quietly. "As of now, Katara is my Fire Lady." He looked over to the beautiful waterbender girl and smiled. "And I know that she will stand by my side through everything and no matter what we will always have each other to fall back on when things get tough." A few people whistled and there were a few audible giggles over the cuteness. "I will always love Katara no matter what and I hope that each and every one of you will always know that. I hope that you will approve of us both as leaders of the Fire Nation and team members of the world." His words were met with more cheers of encouragement and approval. Everyone was smiling and everyone was happy. "And now, if you'll all give it up for Sokka!"
Zuko stepped down as the crowd roared and Sokka stepped up onto the platform, face alight and grinning.
Azula watched silently with Ursa and Yue as Sokka gave his speech. Even though she was a spirit, she could feel her heartstrings being tugged mercilessly as she watched him, listened to him, and still she knew that she could never be with him.
She turned to Yue, "Does it stop hurting after a while?"
She had her hand over her heart, so Yue knew exactly what she meant.
"I don't know. It stopped hurting really quickly for me, once I got use to the fact that I was dead. But that was only a few days, a week at the most. I don't know why it's still hurting you so much to see the one you love with someone else. I still love him, but I've let him go."
Azula lowered her head; maybe I'm just too clingy.
Her mother put a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sure everything will be ok in the end."
Azula smiled over her shoulder at the woman, "Thanks, Mum."
But Azula couldn't help but be curious as to why she still felt complete human emotions. She was a spirit; how was it still possible?
Zuko and Katara sat together as they watched Sokka and Suki dance. They had already had their chance to shine and they had really shown off in front of everyone. Everyone in the room had ended up seeing what good kissers each of them were. But they had no doubt that Suki and Sokka were going to get carried away any minute.
Suki twirled and fell backwards and Sokka neatly caught her. Everyone cheered and clapped. They drew their bodies up close to each other and held each other tight as they moved about the dance floor. Sokka spun his wife and pulled her back in so that she fell in his arms. It was a magical thing to watch as the song ended and – just as the Fire Lord and Lady had guessed – when Suki straightened up and came face to face with Sokka, there was only a moment in which they pondered over it. Then there was the kiss. A simple kiss at first, which slowly deepened and deepened for all eyes to see. And so everyone knew their passion for each other.
They came and joined the other couple as the rest of the guests went on with their own things at the after party.
"So, what shall we all do now?" Katara asked.
"I think it's time for some girl time," Suki said, looking at Zuko and Sokka.
"Sure thing, we'll just go and have guy time," Sokka smiled.
"Love ya," Zuko kissed Katara on the cheek and Sokka blew one to Suki as he walked off with the Fire Lord.
"Well, what a day," Sokka sighed as they walked around the room, randomly waving to whoever greeted them.
"Tell me about it. I could have sworn I was going to pass out while I was standing at that altar!"
"Me too," Sokka agreed.
They walked for a while in silence.
"This has got to be the best, most magical day of my life!" Katara squealed quietly.
Suki shushed her and giggled, "Tell me about it. I swear if I could feel this happy all the time I would never die!"
Katara smiled, "What was Sokka's expression when you told him you were pregnant?"
Suki grinned cheekily and made a few suggestive gestures. Katara started laughing loudly and a few close bystanders stared at her for a moment in shock.
"Well, how did Zuko react to you?"
"Oh… well," Katara raised her eyebrows and put her index finger to her lip in a thoughtful manner. "He took it well."
Suki had to cover her mouth to stop her from laughing but it nearly suffocated her. "He got a bit cheeky with you too, huh?"
Katara nodded.
As Zuko looked around the room as he and Sokka walked around, he noticed that there was someone missing who hadn't been missing just a little earlier. It was someone he knew, but he couldn't quite put his finger on who it could have been.
After a while, he and Sokka parted ways as Sokka went to talk to his father and grandmother. Zuko waved him off and decided that it would be a good time to just take a walk outside in the garden for a while to cool off; it was getting really stuffy in the ball room.
He stepped out of the room and into a hallway and immediately he could feel the temperature difference. He sighed as he moved along, all of his anxiety from the day finally flowing out of him. He was relaxed and happy.
He could feel someone watching him from behind and he quickly whipped around. But no one was there. Nonetheless, as he continued walking, he could feel someone watching him. He had a hunch who it was. It must just be Katara, sneaking after him to spend some alone time outside and away from the crowd and guests.
Smiling to himself, the Fire Lord walked a bit deeper into the garden. He hummed quietly to himself as he passed some rare Panda Lilies and headed over to the turtle-duck pond under the apple tree.
As he sat down, he looked over to the other side of the pond. Not far off and slightly hidden from view, he could see the memorials of his mother and sister. It brought a pang of depression and sadness to his heart. Longing overtook him for a moment as he wished so badly that they could see him at that moment, and be there with him to share the happiness of life.
I think I'll pay them a visit… he thought to himself as he stood up again. He walked over to the other side of the turtle-duck pond and into small area where the memorial places were. Azula's body was buried here as well, her memorial at the head of where she lay.
He knelt down between the two of them and placed a hand on each of their memorial stones.
"It all turned out ok," he smiled. "I'm really happy now and I don't think anything could go wrong from here on in."
Azula bit her lip as she watched Zuko.
"Don't be too naïve, Zuzu."
"Me and Katara are the Fire Lord and Fire Lady now. Isn't it great? We're finally married and she's already pregnant," he whispered, tears in his eyes for how much he missed his mother and Azula. He was silent for a long moment as he read the inscriptions on each of their memorial stones. "I wish you were here. I whish you could see me now."
Azula let a single tear drop into the well. But once one came, she couldn't hold back the rest.
It started raining, just lightly, but it was evident that it was going to get heavy fast.
Zuko stood up and started heading back inside. He could still feel someone watching him and he began to grow suspicious of what Katara was up to.
Over the sound of the pounding rain, Zuko didn't hear the running footsteps coming up behind him in time to see who it really was. Before he let out another squeak his world went black.
"Hey, Sokka, do you know where Mai is?" Ty Lee asked as she joined him, Hakoda and Kana.
"Um… no, I don't think so. The last time I actually saw her was just before me and Suki started dancing," he shrugged. "Why, has she disappeared or something?"
"Yea, one minute she was just talking to one of the Water Tribe men and the next she was gone… they both were."
"Wait, who do you mean, they?"
"Mai and the Water Tribe boy she was talking to."
Sokka frowned for a moment and then shrugged. "I'm sure they're both fine. Don't worry, Ty Lee, they'll both show up somewhere. Who knows? Maybe Mai has a new boyfriend!" he joked.
"That could be a reasonable answer; he did seem to be pretty friendly towards her," Ty Lee said thoughtfully.
Sokka shook his head, "Whatever. Let me know when you find her… and if she's not in here somewhere, don't go and look in a bedroom… just incase you're interrupting something… special," Sokka said slyly.
Ty Lee started laughing hard, "I'm gonna tell her you said that!"
"You'll do no such thing!"
Ty Lee shook her head, "Calm down, I'm only kidding. Anyways, if I told her, she'd probably kill you! I don't think Suki would appreciate that much."
"Ha, ha."
"Well, I'm off to go and look for her a bit more," Ty Lee said as she skipped away.
Windu shut the door behind him when he finally managed to drag Zuko up to his own bedroom. He looked around, and just where he had left her, Mai lay in the bed.
Smiling to himself for his good work, he slowly lay Zuko down on the bed as well. They were both under a strong tranquilizer that wouldn't wear off for a while after the party was over, so neither of them would be waking up for another few hours.
Slowly and carefully, he took Zuko's shirt off and unzipped Mai's dress, lowering it so that the collar was showing the majority of her cleavage. He took off their shoes and carelessly placed them and Zuko's shirt around the room within a close proximity of the bed.
Windu moved Mai so that she was lying with her head on the pillow, her legs spread out suggestively. He made Zuko lie on top of her, one arm on her hip, the other half way up her dress. He moved one of her arms to be placed on Zuko's back and the other by her head. It was the perfect disguise for a love scene that should never have occurred. This was exactly what he was supposed to have done.
Long Feng and the Admiral will be pleased.
And before anyone could discover that he had anything to do with it, he disappeared.
"Hey, Sokka, do you know where Zuko is?" Katara asked as she and Suki walked up to him. It was well and truly past midnight and the majority of the guests and partiers had already left to go and get rest for the next day's journey back home.
"Um… no, not since I started hanging with Dad and Gran-Gran. He went for a walk in the gardens if I remember correctly," Sokka answered.
He yawned widely and Suki leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder and shutting her tired eyes. He wrapped his arms gently around her and sighed, "I think it's about time we headed off to bed. It's been a late night and one big day."
She looked at him and smiled and he gently kissed her on the lips.
"Come on, let's go to bed."
The only ones left in the ball room other than Sokka, Suki and Katara were Ty Lee, Iroh, Aang, and Toph. Toph was fast asleep and Aang looked like he was pretty close to joining her.
"Yea, I think it's bedtime for everyone," Katara nodded.
She headed over to Toph but her head lifted up before she had a chance to be shaken awake.
"Am I still here?"
"Yup, you fell asleep talking to Aang," Katara giggled. Aang looked sleepily up at her.
"Come on you guys, bedtime," Suki said.
"Yea, I think Zuko's already headed off. Poor Katara, first night after the wedding and he didn't even say goodnight to you or give you a goodnight kiss," Sokka teased putting and arm around his little sister.
"I'm sure he's got a good explanation."
"Ok, are we all heading off now?" Ty Lee asked sleepily as she and Iroh came to join the small group of people who were still in the room.
"Yea, it's late. We should probably be getting to bed right about now," Sokka nodded.
Ty Lee and Iroh yawned widely at the same time and both started laughing.
With that, Ty Lee left, "Goodnight guys!"
Toph and Aang got up and headed off to where their rooms were with a small wave and yawn for a goodnight to their other companions and to each other as they headed their separate ways.
Iroh walked with Sokka, Suki and Katara up to their rooms.
"So, where do you think Zuko did disappear off to?" Suki asked as they neared the room of the man in question to drop off Katara.
The new Fire Lady shrugged, "Wouldn't have a clue. But if he went for a walk in the garden, I hope he didn't fall asleep out there. I could tell it was raining earlier. If he fell asleep out there, he'd probably be soaked by now!" she laughed.
Suki and Sokka laughed too. Iroh rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.
"Jeez, it sure has been a while since I last stayed up so late for a party," he chuckled.
"Ok, goodnight Katara," Sokka sighed as he hugged her briefly and she opened her bedroom door. The others continued walking down the corridor to make their way to their own rooms.
But when Katara had looked into the bedroom and realized that the first thing she saw was two people in the bed, she knew something was very, very wrong. She froze in the doorway and looked a little closer, letting the light from the hallway illuminate the room and the bed. And she realized what was happening.
"Oh… my… Gods…" Katara said in disbelief. She was begging that her eyes were deceiving her as she blinked, hoping the image would change. But it wouldn't. She knew it wasn't going to. And as the sleeping couple began to stir, the light spilling in from the door disturbing them, it became all the more real to her.
Zuko and Mai opened their eyes, confused, sleepy and uncertain all at once.
Sokka, Suki and Iroh stopped when they heard Katara's disbelieving voice and watched as she looked into the room, her eyes showing all of her hurt and pain that was coming straight from her heart.
"Katara…?" Sokka stepped back towards his sister, knowing that what he was about to discover was not going to be good.
Suki and Iroh followed him back to the doorway and as they all look into the room to see what was devastating Katara, they all gasped in shock.
Zuko sleepily mumbled, unaware of his surroundings, "I don't remember falling asleep here…"
He shut his eyes again and lay his head back down on Mai's shoulder. Suddenly, her eyes flew open and she turned her head to look at him.
"Zuko?! What the –"
Zuko gasped and sat up quickly, "Mai?!"
"Zuko…"
"Katara?!" He turned to see her and the others in the doorway.
"Wait, what happened?!" Mai asked in panic. This was one really sticky situation, and the worst of it was that she couldn't remember a thing of how it had occurred.
"What do you think you're doing?" Katara asked Zuko, unable to speak in anything more than a whisper.
"I…Katara… please…I …" Zuko tried to find some sort of explanation as to why he was sleeping with Mai, with his shirt off, her dress unzipped and his hand up her dress as he sat up properly.
Mai sat up as well, shutting her legs and blushing madly. "Katara…" She looked at the girl, unable to speak anything more.
She shook her head slowly at them both as the tears started to run down her cheeks; tears of fury, pain and heartbreak.
"Katara, please…" Zuko stood up and took a step towards her. But before he could get any closer, she ran. Heavy sobs trailed after her as she went, not wanting to let them – and especially not him – see her cry.
"Katara!" he cried after her, running towards his door, but Sokka stopped him before he could pass.
"Stop it, ok?! Just leave her alone!" he yelled at him. Zuko looked at him pleadingly, but Sokka's expression didn't soften. "How could you, Zuko?! You only just married her and you're cheating on her?!"
"Sokka, please, it's not what it looks like! I swear, I would never –"
"SHUT UP!" Sokka yelled, Zuko stepped back from him, scared of what the boy would do to him. "Stay the hell away from my sister, you man-whore! You can keep your little girlfriend for a side-dish for a girl who doesn't care if you cheat on her!"
With that, Sokka grabbed Suki's by the arm and huffed away. She glared back at Zuko over her shoulder as they went in the general direction Katara had run off in.
Zuko stared after them for a moment, shocked and afraid and completely unsure of what was happening. He turned back to Mai.
"What are you doing in here?" he asked, begging himself to keep calm. But he just couldn't keep the fear out of his voice.
"I don't know! I don't remember coming in here… or doing anything with you!" she said, tears of her own beginning to drip down her cheeks.
"What the hell happened?!" he wanted to know.
"I don't know!"
They glared at each other for a moment. Then, Zuko leant back against the doorframe and gently slid down to the ground, his head in his hands as he began to sob. He didn't know exactly what had just happened or how it had happened. All he knew was that after he blacked out in the garden, he woke up to find himself in bed with his ex-girlfriend and his new wife had walked in on them. And now Katara hated him and was really heartbroken. Along with that, Sokka wouldn't hear his side of the story and he was sure that Suki wouldn't either.
"Oh, my Gods… what have I done?!"
As Mai stood up, she fixed her dress up properly and flattened it out. She looked at Zuko, pity and sorrow in her eyes along with pain of her own. She still loved Zuko, but she had promised herself that she would let go of him and move on with her life. She and Katara had started to become friends, and as much as she wanted Zuko to be hers, she wouldn't steal him from the one he had just married. Now, only hours after the vows, the promises, the kiss, the whole marriage, something had happened and Katara was not happy with Zuko at all. And if Mai wasn't quite mistaken, neither were the others. She highly doubted that they were happy with her either.
Zuko was almost crying; he knew the damage this was doing to Katara's heart and it was having a similar effect on him. The worst of it was that he didn't know what had really happened and no one would listen to his side of the story anyway.
"Zuko…"
Zuko looked up to his uncle. The man's eyes were practically begging him to tell him that it was just a bad dream. He was begging Zuko to come and pinch him and wake him up from this nightmare.
My own nephew… he's better than this… I'd never have thought he would do something so insensitive, or so stupid.
Iroh was really hurting inside and he was already starting to blame it on himself. After all, how could he not feel it was partially his fault? He had basically fathered the boy!
"Uncle… please, listen to me. I swear, I don't know how this happened. Mai and I never did anything together since after I went to the South Pole to find Katara. I swear I would never cheat on Katara!"
Iroh looked at his nephew. He wanted to believe it, every word he was saying, and in the back of his mind, he did. But it just didn't make sense that he didn't know how he ended up in bed with Mai. There was no other explanation evident to help Zuko out of this situation. He had been cheating on Katara.
"Zuko, how could you?"
It hurt. But no, that was an understatement – it killed. His own uncle didn't believe him. Iroh was the man Zuko had looked to every time he needed help with something. And just then, the moment when he needed help more than ever, his uncle wouldn't trust him.
Zuko put his head down again and tried to contain the sobbing that was shaking his body. But there was no stopping the tears as Iroh walked away, silently up to his room.
He was shocked and he didn't know what to do. He knew that Zuko often made bad choices or did things without thinking them through to consider the consequences. But in all his years he had never done anything as foolish as this.
I taught you better… I failed.
That was it. Azula couldn't stop crying and she knew she wouldn't be able to for a very long time. This just wasn't fair on them, on him.
She knew the truth and so did Yue and Ursa. They'd all seen what had really happened and knew how each person really felt about one another. And at that moment, Zuko really hated himself and he was really confused and sad. Mai was upset. Iroh was confused and disappointed. Sokka was so, so angry. Suki was trying desperately to comfort Katara – she felt so sorry for her. And Katara was so heartbroken that it was never going to be something that, once resolved, they could all look back on and laugh at. It wasn't like trying to kill someone one day and then joining them and laughing about how stupid they were for not joining sooner the next. This was an issue that would remain a permanent, emotional scar for the rest of her life.
Azula wished so badly that she could tell them what was happening. She wanted to tell them Shang and Long Feng's plans. She wanted to tell them what Windu had done, and why he had done it. She wanted them to just be happy like they had been, only precious minutes ago.
Zuko sat there for hours in the doorway and Mai came and sat beside him, shutting the door as she did, so that anyone who walked past would not interrupt them.
"Zuko? What do you want to do about this?"
He slowly lifted his head to look at her and looked sadly at her, "Mai, I'm not sure there is anything I can do."
She looked with her expression strangely emptier than usual and slowly and gently wrapped her arms around him, hugging him in an effort to comfort him. But he pulled away – he was under enough suspicion of being in a relationship with Mai as it was. But he knew that she was only trying to comfort him.
Katara fell asleep in her brother's arms. Suki was still stroking her back as they sat out in the garden under the apple tree next to the turtle-duck pond while it poured down rain. Her eyes were puffy from her crying and tears were stained all over her face. They were all soaked through and shivering.
"I can't believe he'd do something so senseless. He's such a prick! I should have known he'd do something like this!" Sokka cursed.
Suki sat in thought. She would never have guessed something like this from Zuko. It just didn't seem at all like him.
"I don't know why, but I kinda think there's something wrong."
"Oh, well, let's see. My sister's new husband is cheating on her with his ex. Is there any obvious hint that there's something wrong?" he asked sarcastically, keeping his voice low although Katara wouldn't have woken anyway.
"No, that's not what I mean. I mean there was something wrong when we walked in on Zuko and Mai. It just seemed like… it wasn't meant to happen and they didn't know it had happened."
"Suki, what world are you in? Zuko cheated on Katara and that little bitch, Mai, was the one he was cheating with. There's nothing more to it – they're both just a couple of good-for-nothing pricks!"
Suki silenced herself. She knew that Sokka didn't mean anything against her – he was just all angry and confused because someone had upset his little sister so severely and caused her almost unbearable heartbreak. But he was so caught up in being angry that he wasn't looking at the possibilities of what might have really happened.
In all honesty, Suki was absolutely furious about all of this as well. She wanted to kill Zuko. But she could smell a rat. There was something happening that no one else knew about and it was something bad.
Ta da! Did ya like it? I sure hope you did, because I need you all to review – like I said earlier, I only got two reviews for last chapter. Not good enough! I want at least three (3) reviews for this one, or no updates! Got it?
But you know I love you guys.
Anyway, tell me what you thought. I really do hope you liked it. And yes, review.
Oh, by the way JOIN TEAM ZUTARA!!!