Force of Iron

Chapter 11

Trouble on the Seas

Zuko coughed harshly feeling his body shake in protest. He had been sick for awhile, but the symptoms where just starting to come on strong. If you looked at the conditions surrounding him it made perfect sense to why he had become so sick so quickly. He was trapped in the brig all day and night, which was always cold, especially at night, when the temperature seemed to drop below freezing. Not to mention that he was a fire bender and used to warm and humid climates, nothing cold. Ozaian had obviously planned it just to make him suffer more then he already had.

The temperature was merely one factor to his illness. He was given little food and water, just enough to barely get by. His ratty clothes did little to help the temperature of the brig as well. Then again, it was made to handle and house cargo, not humans, that was what the prison hold was for. Yet as the days passed he could feel himself growing weaker and weaker. Which was not what he needed, he needed to be strong in case anything happened. In case Katara needed him and he needed to escape and save her.

He didn't want to bother Katara with his illness, knowing that it was a slight fever or cold. He didn't want her to worry about him any more, plus he didn't want her risking anything to scavenge or steal food for him. They were in enough danger as it was. They didn't want Ozaian to do anything that was unexpected, who knows what could happen.

Zuko suddenly found himself being jerked out of his thoughts when he heard voices from the top of the stairs to the brig. He couldn't tell what they were saying. Just that one voice was furious and the other was scared straight. He could identify the scared voice as a women's.

Katara!

It was then that he began to worry. But he reminded himself that it could be nothing. He couldn't identify the angry voice, it sounded like it belonged to that of a man but it was hard to tell because it sounded so weird and slurred.

His thoughts on the hidden quarrel instantly changed as he heard a scream as someone was thrown or had fallen down the steps. He instantly scrambled to his feet, craning his neck through the bars to see who it was.

He saw his beloved Katara lying at the foot of the stairs groaning in pain as she attempted to stand. But still remained lying on the floor on her stomach, she had managed to prop her upper body up on her left elbow, but that was as far as she had gotten. Then she lifted her head and her eyes met Zuko's, who was staring back at her in shock and worry.

Her long brown hair that she wore loosely, was now somewhat of a mangled mess, compared to the perfect waves and curls she always had it in. There was a rather large collection of hickeys and bite marks all around her neck, and parts of her cheeks and chin. Part of her dress was torn as well. He could feel the anger building up inside of him at the thought of what Ozaian could have done to her, but yet a pang of guilt attacked him in the stomach knowing that he wasn't able to protect her when she needed him to. He wasn't able to do anything then and he still wasn't able to do anything now. He cursed the brig holding him under his breath.

Zuko wished he could help her as she lay on the floor, eyes full of sadness and fear. It was then that Ozaian appeared from the stairwell, standing over Katara who quivered in fear as he approached. Zuko couldn't help but notice how he seemed to sway as he walked. Was he drunk?

Ozaian roughly grabbed Katara's right arm and pulled her to her feet, ignoring her screams and yelps of pain. It then became obvious that she had broken her right arm from her fall down the stairs.

Upon seeing and hearing Katara scream, Zuko out of pure rage for kicked the bars of the brig as hard as he could, making them shake. "Get your filthy hands off of her," he screamed at Ozaian with tremendous rage.

At those words Ozaian looked over at Zuko, and as if he had just remembered why he had come down here in the first places he immediately staggered at a fast pace over to Zuko's cell, pulling Katara behind him, flanked by two of his guards.

As they neared his cage he fingered a knife that he kept in the side of his belt, while roughly pulled Katara close to him so he could whisper in her ear venomously, "You should try and enjoy this, my sweet." He paused they where merely a few feet away from Zuko.

Katara flinched as she smelled the alcohol on his breath once more, except this time it was condensing into a warm mist that fell onto her ear and the upper part of her cheek. She tried to pull away but he held her firmly, as he continued, "You don't know how long I've been waiting for this, a chance to actually give him what he deserves."

Upon Zuko seeing Ozaian's bloodshot eyes it immediately confirmed his assumptions that Ozaian was in fact hard core drunk. And it only made his fears of what he could have done to Katara in the past few hours go from extremely concerned to mortified.

Katara then found herself pushed roughly into the stiff arms of the guards, who held her tightly, so she couldn't escape, yet watch whatever was about to happen. She struggled as she had been doing a lot of recently she was sick of being pushed around all the time. She was sick of waiting for someone to rescue her. She was sick of Ozaian and the things he had done, or will do. She wanted her peaceful and content life with Zuko back.

She struggled until the burly rogue/guard holding her put an arm around her neck. Ceasing her struggling due to the pressure exerted on her throat, threatening to strangle her.

While Katara was having her dispute with the rogue, Ozaian was just beginning to make his assault on Zuko. In his drunken and clouded mind he would finally have vengeance.

He pulled the knife out of his belt, blade shinning in the dim light of the room, and kicked Zuko's cell door with a quick and forceful kick, letting it swing wide open on its hinges.

Zuko thought for a second on why he didn't attempt that before. But the thought ended abruptly when Ozaian delivered a swift punch of the fist to Zuko's head, sending him to the opposite ending of his cell, making his head bang against the unmoving iron bars. He groaned out of pain and dizziness as he sunk to the floor. For being drunk he could deliver a hell of a punch.

Katara watched the whole thing all the while shaking and digging her nails into the thick burly arm of the rogue that held her immobile, trying to make him loosen his grip on her. But the effort was futile; she only felt the man's grip tighten around her neck, making her gag. Zuko please fight back. You've kicked other people's asses before, you can surly kicked his.

Zuko felt as if his head wound that Katara had healed days earlier had re-opened, but he somewhat doubted that, knowing Katara's healing abilities left nothing less then perfection.

He was jarred from his thoughts again as Ozaian kicked him hard in the stomach, making him feel like he was about to cough up his stomach's little contents.

It was then that he heard Katara scream. He looked up from his hunched position on the floor and saw Katara screaming and begging Ozaian to stop, while trapped in the arms of his body-builder guards. Her right arm looked broken, since it was slightly twisted at an unnatural angle as she cradled it in her left arm. His eyes wandered to her damaged face with hickeys and bite marks scattered everywhere, then her sad and worrisome sapphire eyes.

Suddenly he became very angry. Not at Katara who was nothing more then a victim, and the women he loved more then anything. But at Ozaian, it was he that dragged her into all of this, something that wasn't even her battle. It was him that hurt her in ways that killed him to even think about, and it was him that was hurting her still.

Then it happened. He suddenly became aware of the ship rocking back and forth, the blood that began to pound in his ears as his heart rate quickened at a rapid rate. He knew what he had to do, what he must do.

He saw Ozaian's boot come flying at him out of the corner of his eye, ready to deliver another swift kick to his stomach or chest. He then took action. He jumped out of the way of his boot, landing on his feet. After he had regained his composure, he let a wave of fire burst forth from his hands towards Ozaian's direction. It felt good to fire bend again he couldn't recall the last time he had done so. He loved the thrill it gave him as the embers pulsed through his veins.

Ozaian was half aware of the fire heading towards him, at first. But once he realized the rush of flames and their intended direction, he took action himself and clumsily harnessed his own flame, blocking Zuko's, and letting both of the flames die out.

Then there was silence as the two brothers stood opposite one another at either ends of the cell. One strong yet drunk the other sober yet weak from his sickness and weeks of imprisonment. They just stared looking at each other dead in the eye as Katara watched from the sidelines, stuck in the arms of evil rouges.

After a while Katara felt like it was nothing more then a staring contest, since nothing had happened in what felt like almost five minutes.

Out of nowhere Ozaian seemed to let out a snarl of pure hatred towards his twin. Zuko stared back at him, his face reading a similar expression. For a moment Katara couldn't tell the two apart.

"I'm surprised I actually kept you alive this long, cause all my life, ever since that day I found out who I was by birthright. I wanted you dead and cold, for taking that away from me," Ozaian snarled at Zuko angrily, all the while still slurring some of his words. "And I still want you dead," he said slowly before charging at Zuko full speed, knife in hand ready to attack, while screaming some sort of drunken battle cry.

Zuko's eyes widened as Ozaian neared him. Fully aware of his brother's intentions he cleverly jumped out of the way at the last minute, letting Ozaian run head on into the bars of the brig, breaking his nose on the iron.

He groaned in pain as he turned away from the bars, blood gushing out of his now obscure nose. It was then that Zuko spoke. "I didn't take any of that away from you. It was Ozai who did," said Zuko defiantly, causing Ozaian to look up at him from his broken nose that he held in his hand.

"It was Ozai that refused to have two princes in the palace at the same time. It was Ozai that sent you away to the orphanage. It was Ozai that stripped you of your title when I returned to the Fire Nation after the Earth Kingdom fell. If he really wanted you as his heir he would have killed me and saved you the trouble. Believe me I would have let you have the throne at the time, if I had known about the whole thing."

It was true that at that point in his life the only thing he wanted was to find his mother, reconcile with his uncle, help Aang and end the war. But now the throne was his and it was his job as well as the avatar's to keep the peace. If he simply let Ozaian have the throne he would destroy the months he spent working out peace treaties with the other nations, and convincing his nation that war was pointless. Not to mention that if he let Ozaian have the throne he would be breaking the vow he made at his coronation and to the world. As long as he lived he would never let that happen.

Zuko suddenly felt Ozaian's hands around his throat, strangling him, as he was pushed against the bars. He gasped for air, as Ozaian spoke, "Don't even think of insulting Father that way, everything is your fault and it always will be as long as you live," he said through clenched teeth as he tightened his hold on Zuko's throat.

Zuko cloud feel his face turning red as his need for oxygen increased. He could hear the voice of his Katara screaming at Ozaian to stop. But Ozaian refused, his anger and hatred was pushing him toward vengeance and murder.

Zuko wasn't sure how but he managed to kick Ozaian away from him. Giving him a chance to breath and take in some precious oxygen. Looking up he saw Ozaian on the ground, rubbing his head as he tried to stand. It was then that he saw his chance. Seeing that his cell door was open he dashed toward it. But he had only made it a few feet out of the cell and was in the midst of rushing to get Katara, when he felt something hard hit him in the back of the head.

"Zuko!" Katara screamed as he fell to the floor at her feet. He was still conscience, but the blow to his head left stars dance across his vision for a few moments. He was in the midst of standing, pain shooting through his senses, when the guard that had struck him grabbed him by the back of his shirt, pulled him to his feet and roughly pushed him back into the cell that he had so recently escaped from.

Ironically he found himself face down on the floor again, he hated being manhandled. But in situations like these there was nothing he could do about it.

He felt hands grab his hair, and pull him to his knees. His head was moved back so his throat was exposed, then he felt a cold steel blade pressed threateningly against his throat.

Everything seemed to be a blur. He could hear his Katara screaming in the background, begging Ozaian to stop, as he felt his fate slip away. Ignoring Katara's pleas Ozaian pressed harder against his throat, causing several droplets of blood to run down the pale skin. He could feel his breath growing short, as the blade was so close to ending his life.

Then suddenly a giant crash was heard, as it sent the ship jarring to its side, causing everyone to loose their footing, and fall to the ground. Cargo was spilled out of its boxes and some rolled freely as the ship set its self right again.

Katara groaned in pain, knowing that she had just injured her broken arm more. She somehow was freed from the steadfast arms of the rouge that held her, and she had to admit she was more then thankful for whatever it was that caused the lurch of the ship to happen.

Then suddenly she remembered Zuko. The image of Ozaian about to slit his throat haunted her mind. She staggered to her feet and looked in the last place she saw them. Zuko sat against the bars rubbing the back of his head. He was alright.

Ozaian's guards were shuffling around what was Ozaian, trying to lift him up. He yelled in pain as he cursed at them for not doing it right. Then she saw blood spilled all across his chest and the floor around him, and the knife he had threatened Zuko with stuck deep in his chest, just above his heart.

Somehow the guards managed to get him up out of the cargo hold, leaving just Zuko and Katara alone. They had left his cell door open, and they both were thinking the same thing. Freedom. Escape.

Katara rushed to Zuko's side, and before Zuko knew it she had already had healed the cut on his throat. Nothing was there but the plain white skin of his throat.

"Are you okay?" he asked rubbing at one of the hickeys on her mocha skin.

"I'm fine," she replied cradling her broken arm.

He sat up and asked, "He didn't…"

She shook her head, and he involuntary let out a sigh of relief. He would kill himself if he had known that she had been raped, and he wasn't able to do anything about it. As if out of nowhere he coughed harshly. Katara, concerned and still shaken from previous events felt his forehead. It was warmer then usual. Her suspicions of him being sick, where then confirmed. "Zuko you're burning up."

"Its nothing Katara I'll be fine. It's colder done here and I'm just trying to keep myself warm," he said rather smoothly, even though Katara knew he was lying.

He took her hand of the arm that wasn't broken and helped her up. "We need to get out of here, this isn't working."

They were making their way towards the exit when Katara said, "We know what he's doing now, and we can get out of here and stop it."

Zuko suddenly stopped in his tracks. "How are we supposed to get out of here and stop him before he reaches the capital? How are we supposed to leave if there is nothing but water for miles? Plus your arm is broken and one can only bend for so long," he said in a rather depressing tone. How were they supposed to stop the attack in time? Could they even stop the attack at all? At the moment both were very low on hope, especially after the previous events.

Katara could feel tears prick her eyes. So far today she had nearly been raped and had almost watched her fiancé murdered. Now the realization of how little hope was left made her almost fall off the edge.

She embraced Zuko tightly ignoring the pain of her arm as it screamed in protest. He comforted her with a gentle squeeze, minding her arm.

Fear gripped both of them as footsteps were heard hurrying down the stairs. They were relieved when they saw that it was Elsa. Her aged face looked panic-stricken, though she seemed a little at peace once she saw them both in an embrace. "Oh Katara, thank goodness, I was worried sick. I came by the room to check up on you and I saw the mess and… and…" she said through large pants, after talking at an abnormal speed, and having searched the ship frantically trying to find out what had happened.

"Its okay Elsa I'm fine. I can assure you that nothing happen. He tried but his impairment caused him to fail," said Katara trying to calm Elsa, though refusing to let go of Zuko. Seeing Elsa, Zuko felt a slight relief knowing that Katara was being looked after.

"Okay…that's good to know," she said still trying to regain her breath. "But Ozaian requests your healing abilities immediately," she continued.

"Can't he just use the ship's healers? I'm sure they would be more then happy to take care of him," Katara snapped angrily, refusing to heal let alone help the evil man.

"Ozaian is being taken care of by them. But there are more."

"What do you mean?" Katara asked confused.

"The ship was struck by lightening a few moments ago. Some crew members were injured from it. It's really them that need you," Elsa informed.

"Oh…I can do that," Katara said somewhat sorrowfully, as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked up at Zuko who still held her. "You go and heal them, they need you. We'll find a way out of this another time," said Zuko trying to convince her that they should continue what they were doing no matter how dangerous it was.

"But when are we going to get another chance. I know that there have been better escapes then this in the past, but what if this is our only opportunity?" Katara said fear in her voice.

"We'll get another chance, it will come," said Zuko trying to reassure her, even though he wasn't that sure himself. Yet Katara still seemed reluctant to leave him alone in the brig once more. "I'll be fine," He reassured her again.

Katara just stared at the dark circles that were forming under his eyes. He was sick, he needed medicine. It was obvious to her no matter how he hid it. He bent down and kissed her softly on the lips. He missed kissing her whenever he wanted to.

Before the kiss reached the next level he broke it, and said, "Go! Before rogues start to show up." She had to leave, she would stay forever if she could. But if rogues started to show up and she was still here and he was out of his imprisonment. Katara would be charged for treason, because they would think she had let him out, and nothing but bad news would come out of that. Ozaian would most likely have them killed or have them suffer a fate worse then death.

Katara left with Elsa. Zuko watched them walk up the steps together only to see Katara glance back at him a few times, before they disappeared at the top of the stairwell. Zuko just stood in the cargo hold. Not wanting to go back into his cage, yet knowing that he couldn't be seen out of it or anywhere else but the cargo hold. For the second time in his life he wasn't quite sure what to do.

A/N:Sorry this took so long to get posted. When i wrote the outline it didn't seem that long of a chapter. But once i put in all the details, dialogue and more thought. It had a major growth spurt. so that is the reason for this being late, plus i'm busy working and all that other shit, and i hardly have enough time on the computer, which is where i need to be in order to work on all of this.

I, sadly, do not know when i'll have the next chapter up. looking at it right now it looks like it would be a filler chappie, and to be honest i hate fillers. especially when i'm reading them and the story is really suspenseful. so you can imagine an impatient person like me screaming at the story to just get on with it. unless its cute fluffy flirty romancy stuff. That is the only kind of filler i can live with.

Also i am busy with other obsessive fangirl fics. I have no idea what i'm going to do with PM. I want to continue it, i just need to be put in a certain and i haven't been in a certain mood lately except stress and...HARRY POTTER!!!!!!!. I'm syched for the movie, plus i'm planning on publishing my fic for it soon. But the thing is the fic is incredibly long, i keep on changing it, and i don't want to get sidetracked. Cause once i start on it i'll forget about everything else i do on fanfiction. So i'm going to control my HP urges until at least this fic is done. And the ending is in mind, so i will finish it. take that as a promise. if i don't feel free to insult me cause i'll deserve it.

plus, i also want to know what you think of my caged fight scene. I haven't published them before so any honest opinion is appreciated. Also what you thought of the entire chappie is nice.

Have a great life!! (cause if you just say day you only mean one nice day out of their entire life)

-See ya!!