Chapter III

The Fire Nation Demitar

"Ursa?" Raya called out tentatively as she stepped into the Southern Garden of the palace. It was the biggest garden housed by the palace, and in turn was where they kept Rai Jin. She could see the dragon off in a corner of the well landscaped area, and let her eyes wander the rest of the way around herself. The once Fire Lady had sent for her, but she was only told simply to find her in the Southern Garden.

"Over here," she heard from behind some thick shrubbery. She walked further into the thick of the garden, along a path that wound in and around various Fire Nation foliage. Once she was clear of the path, she found herself walking into an open expanse filled with blooming fire lilies and an intricate out door table. There she found Ursa seated with a smile, and the table set with tea.

"This garden is more like a jungle," Raya commented as she approached the table. Ursa gestured for her to have a seat and she did.

"It's large enough to lose yourself in, and sometimes that is all one wants in the palace. Thank you for joining me," she said, her smile kind. Raya could appreciate her genuine nature and the motherly affection she seemed to possess. Her years with Ozai didn't seem to cripple her spirit, and Raya interpreted that as a great strength. Maintaining steadfastness of self during trying circumstances was one of the greatest displays of strength.

"Thank you for having me," Raya said politely as Ursa poured a steaming cup of tea for her. She took note of the warming plate that the pot sat on, and remembered that the once Fire Lady was a non-bender. She watched Ursa carefully as she accepted the cup and considered the fact that she was a descendant of Avatar Roku. She wished he had lived long enough for her to know him. She knew she needed only to look deep within herself for his help, or Kuyen's – the Demitar before her – but Roku was Fire Nation.

She needed the guidance of someone who had come from the land, who had had ties within the palace. How would he have handled the situation she found herself in?

"I know how isolating these palace walls can be," Ursa commented as she observed the Demitar deep in thought. Raya extracted herself from the tempest of her mind to look at the once Fire Lady.

"It wouldn't be as bad if I could leave," Raya replied absently, her eyes wandering over to her sleeping dragon. He was such a peaceful creature. Ursa followed her eyes and smiled.

"I never knew dragons were such sweet tempered beings."

"He is very sweet tempered. I have met some who are vastly more aggressive," Raya replied as her hand landed absently on her scar. There weren't many people outside of the Gaang and Zuko that knew of the tale that went with her dragon fire scar.

"I know his command seems unfair, but he means well," Ursa urged, waiting for Raya to look at her. Raya turned her head, and her amber eyes locked with the dark liquid topaz of Ursa's. She was sincere, and Raya felt the urge to understand behind them.

"Could have fooled me," Raya said, trying not to sound sour. She turned her head back toward the resting dragon and her eyes scanned his saddle. There were all kinds of things still hanging from them. She made a mental note to free him of the leather object in the near future, since she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon that warranted the thing to remain in place. That was when her eyes fell on it.

"It must be incredible. To fly, that is," Ursa said as she watched Raya. She must have assumed the Demitar was daydreaming about being in flight upon the dragons back. Raya realized that silence began to linger over them.

"It really is," she finally said, no longer invested in the conversation. She had a plan.

X

She rustled through her bag quickly as night fell on the courtyard that her balcony overlooked. She had to make sure she left under the cover of night, but with enough time to gather the intel she sought. Initially, she had only discovered her way out of the palace by letting her eyes linger on her staff; she couldn't waltz out the front door, or take to the skies with Rai Jin, but she didn't need to. She was an airbender after all; the spirit of freedom. She didn't need a dragon to fly.

The problem then became what she needed to do once she left the palace walls under the cover of night. It wasn't obvious to her at first, but she overheard two guards talking about rough and tumble taverns in the city that sounded like the perfect place to discuss seedy business. So she was decided; she was going to fly out of the palace grounds and out into the city in disguise.

As her train of thought finished, she pulled out what she had been looking for. She never thought she would be using it for this, but it served its purpose perfectly as she looked at herself in the mirror. She stood, lean and tall in a pair of fire nation trousers, a long sleeved, non-descript top, and her white locks braided loosely over her shoulder. She had taken down her bun and tucked the crowned prince's ornament away carefully, not wanting to draw any kind of attention to herself. The final touch was the sash that, normally worn around her waist to tie her casual robe shut, now covered the blue arrow of her forehead.

She shifted it around a bit to make sure that it was secure, and then took in her full image. It was strange, not to see the blue arrow staring back at her. It was an intrinsic part of her identity, and somehow she felt naked without it. For a moment she wondered if this were who she would be looking at in the mirror if she had been graced with any other element than air to accompany her fire. Strange.

She grabbed a long cloak that hung against the wall, tearing herself from her needless lines of questions and thoughts. There were more pressing matters to attend to now, and she was working with a time constraint. She glanced around the room to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything and then made her way to the balcony. There would be no hallways involved in her escapade, but instead rooftops. She needed to make it to the Southern Garden without detection.

The Demitar leapt easily down into the courtyard, her eyes scanning the area for signs of life. Her airbending allowed her to land and move in pure silence among the foliage and paths. With a few more leaps and bounds she found herself navigating the rooftops. She wasn't entirely sure where she was going, but she tried to follow the direction the roof tops took in correlation with the hallways below. The palace seemed to become larger every time she found herself there.

Finally, the large white dragon came into view, and she smiled as she leapt down into the Southern Gardens without a sound. Her dragon was accustomed to her unnatural silence, and could smell her in the air, causing him to open two jade eyes. He watched her move toward him, thick tendrils of smoke wafting from his large nostrils. She placed two gentle hands on his massive snout and scratched.

"Hey buddy," she said softly as she moved around him to his saddle. She unfastened her staff and clicked it open, inspecting the integrity of the instrument. The monks really were master craftsmen. The wood and fabrics were over a century old and yet everything about them still functioned as though it were brand new. Rai Jin began to stand and she patted his shoulder soothingly. "Not this time, Rai. I've gotta take this one on my own."

With a quick step, she tossed the glider out into the air and leapt up into it.

X

"Instead of pushing her away, you should talk to her," Ursa urged her son as she stood in the doorway of his study. He could find peace nowhere in the walls of his palace. Even in his own chambers he only managed a few hours of decent sleep every night. Ever since the attempt, his life had been transformed into a stressful deluge of remaining alert and untrusting.

"I can handle this without her," Zuko muttered, his tone short. He was pretending to be absorbed by the scroll in his hands, but the truth was his mother was hitting a sore spot.

"You care for her a great deal," Ursa stated, making Zuko put the scroll down to look his mother in the eyes. She was right; she was always right. It was no secret to her the affection he held for the Demitar, even though his actions toward her in the past few days vehemently suggested otherwise.

"Which is why she should be anywhere but here," Zuko said evenly, holding Ursa's gaze. She looked down then, and turned to exit.

"Sleep soon, you look tired," she said, her parting words forever holding the tone of motherly affection. Zuko sighed and leaned back in his chair as the door clicked shut. Maybe he had been too hard on the Demitar. The look on her face as he told her he didn't want her there played in his mind over and over when he had a spare moment to think about anything but being the Fire Lord. It sent a miserable pang through his chest.

Three years of absence and he greets her with harsh words and anger; as though she were the reason for his misery. Perhaps Ursa was right, he had went about trying to make her leave the entirely wrong way. But the second he heard that Rai Jin was flying into the city limits, he panicked. He hated to admit that to himself, but it was true, and that panic turned into anger as he saw her lovely face and amber eyes looking toward him with that gentle smile.

He leaned forward over the desk and placed a hand against his forehead, the other resting in a fist against the scattered parchment before him. How could he make her understand without revealing everything he was working to keep from her and Aang? He was the leader of an entire nation, and he needed to prove to them that he was strong. Stronger than Ozai would ever be, but in a different way. He knew that the years following the war would be filled with difficult tasks and turmoil, but he never considered how hard it would truly be on him.

Perhaps he owed her more than he had given her in her chambers. He wouldn't give her any information, but an apology. Her face appeared before him again, standing in her chamber. She looked so uncertain, like a creature shied by a bite. He hated himself for being the reason for that look. And she had been crying, also his fault. He stood then; decided.

He had no idea what he was going to say to her, or if she would even see him after everything he had said, but he had to try. It had been three days since she had arrived, and they hadn't spoken since. In fact, she seemed to avoid being anywhere he was at all costs. She ate breakfast early before meditation, and took dinner late in the evenings after the rest of the royal family had already finished. He had been looking forward to at least seeing her, to drink in the face he missed, but she made it clear that wouldn't be happening. He deserved it.

"You're dismissed," he said to the young chamber maid outside of Raya's door. She bowed low before scurrying off down the hall. He turned to the door and swallowed. What was he going to say? He hadn't thought of anything on his walk down here, and still drew a blank. "Raya . . ." he said finally, giving the door a tentative knock. There was no answer, but the door wasn't fully shut. He knocked again which caused it to become slightly ajar.

"Raya, can we talk?" he asked into the door and pushed it forward slowly, making sure he had time to rescind the gesture if she wasn't decent or refused to see him. But nothing happened. Not a word met him from the other side of the door and his brow furrowed as she pushed the door open the rest of the way. "Raya?" he called out into the room. Nothing. Was she meditating? There was no way, it was too late for that. She meditated at sun rise and sunset.

Trying not to jump to conclusions, he walked quickly to the Southern Garden. He had a hunch, and prayed to the spirits he was wrong. His robes billowed out behind him as he kept a rapid pace, fists clenched.

"Fire Lord Zuko!" Two guards near the corridor that lead to the Southern Garden bowed deeply. "Would you like an escort, My Lord?"

"No." Zuko tried to keep his tone level but was starting to panic. Had they taken her? She wouldn't leave and blatantly disobey him, would she? Maybe she would, after the way he treated her. The storm of his mind was put to rest quickly when he saw that the dragon was still resting peacefully where he'd been since they'd arrived. He sighed, still worried that she was nowhere to be found, but felt a little more at ease with the dragon still there. She wouldn't go far without him.

Or maybe she would. He looked over the saddle as he approached the dragon to see one vital piece missing. Her staff. He yelled in frustration, and flames shot from the back of his clenched fists.

X

The night enveloped her perfectly as she made her way out of the palace grounds. She flew just to the outskirts of the market district and stashed her staff quickly amongst some bushes. The coast seemed clear and she began walking out into the street as she navigated a narrow alley way. Only a few people dotted the street, and no one seemed to pay her any mind as she walked.

She began to wonder how she was going to find a rough and tumble tavern. As though by way of divine intervention, one came into sight. She paused under the sign and looked up as it hung precariously from its hinges. The 'Doused Flame' seemed like a good place to start. Everything about it screamed seedy; the kind of place undesirables went to discuss private affairs. She pushed the door open and made her way inside, trying to inspect her surroundings without drawing attention to herself.

She picked a table against the wall where she felt she could observed the interior with the least amount of suspicion. A few men at the table of to her left eyed her carefully and then went back to their business when she acknowledged them. They looked like the kind of guys you didn't want to tangle with no matter who you were. She kept her eyes down and her ears open.

"What'll it be?" a rough voice came from above her. She kept her amber eyes faced downward as she spoke to the woman.

"Fire water," she said, keeping herself from adding please. This wasn't the kind of place where polite etiquette lived. The woman was gone for less than thirty seconds before she returned to the table with a glass and a small bottle of light orange liquid. Fire water was the only drink she actually knew of. She'd never been a drinking person, especially after taking her vows with the air nomads.

Raya let a few coins down on the surface of the table, and the woman scraped them up before moving on. She relaxed a little, and with her hood still up, poured a bit of the liquid into the glass before her. She brought the glass up to her mouth and sniffed. It was strong, and the liquid gave off fumes that made her nose twitch. Resisting the urge to make a face, she took a sip and blanched. She put the glass down quickly, her hand raising to her mouth.

She suppressed a few coughs and looked around quickly. The men at the table to her right had been watching this transpire, but looked away again as Raya caught them. She cleared her throat as quietly as she could before pushing the glass away. No more of that.

"The abandoned warehouse, near the bay? That's so far . . ."

"Shut up, idiot. It's safer to meet out of the capital city. The Fire Lord has had all kinds of eyes on the place since Huien failed to-"

"Shh, speak any louder and you'll be inviting the whole place to join in on this conversation . . ."

Raya perked up as their words drifted over to her. What they said sounded promising, but they had already hushed their words to the point where she couldn't easily make out what they were saying without making it obvious that she was listening. She decided to wait until they left to follow them. Maybe she could learn more from their destination and hear them more easily out in the streets.

It wasn't much longer until the three men stepped away from their table, the largest of them tossing a few silver pieces down. The woman that had served her gave them a grunt in place of a goodbye and the three of them stalked out the door on the other side of the room. Raya waited for a moment before standing as well, leaving a gold piece in her wake. She was given the same non-descript grunt as the three men and stepped out of the door into the night.

The air was cool, but it was still summer, and the heat of the day still lingered in the air. She glanced around herself slowly and realized the men were taking a right down an alley at the end of the building. She waited a moment longer before making to follow them. She stepped around the corner of the alley to find that they were nowhere in sight. She had been too slow, and they had already exited out the other end. She cursed herself quietly and began to walk to the end of the alley to see if she could still catch them.

As she stepped forward two men landed hard in front of her, blocking her way. She heard another pair of feet hit the ground behind her and turned to see him take a step toward her. He was easily the largest of the group, standing more than a foot taller than she was. She backed toward one of the opposing walls so that she could keep her eyes on all three of them.

"Well well, if it isn't the Demitar herself," the largest man said with a smirk.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Raya said, trying to play dumb.

"No sense lying, I saw the tattoos on your hands." Damn. Double damn. Why didn't she think to wear gloves? She pictured them laying across her duvet; the only thing she had forgotten. It was too late to dwell on it as they took a step forward. She felt her back press against the cool stone of the building behind her and raised two hands before herself.

"Okay, you got me. I'm not looking for a fight," she said. She didn't understand why they were being so aggressive toward her. She was just the Demitar out doing her Demitar thing. They had no reason to fight with her; though she had been following them.

"That's a shame, because you found one," he said, and one of the smaller men lunged toward her. She dodged him easily enough, but the second man was coming at her just as quickly with flames at his finger-tips. She made to block them, but a figure dressed entirely in black leapt down into the alley and with a flick of their wrist sent the fire up and away from her. Raya looked towards her savior to identify them, wondering what stranger might come to her aid, but it was no stranger at all.

"Zuko . . ." Raya felt her heart quiver and he looked back at her quickly.

"Are you alright?" She nodded in response to his question and saw worry instead of the anger she expected written across his face. Another fire blast erupted at the two of them and Raya quickly deflected it.

"What do you know, boys? The Fire Lord and the Demitar, standing right here for the taking. It's our lucky day," the biggest man said, and he reached out quickly for Raya's arm. She avoided once again, her air nomad style of avoid and evade making her hard to catch.

"I don't think so," Zuko muttered as he sent a blast of fire out across the path of the two smaller men. They ducked, and Zuko took the opportunity to grab Raya's arm, directing her to leap with him up to the roof tops. She used a blast of air to propel herself and the Fire Lord up onto the roof.

"Don't just stand there! Get them!" she heard from below. It wasn't long before she heard clambering, and realized that they were pulling themselves up onto the rooftops. She glanced back and saw that they were making their way quickly after them.

"We have to get out of here," Zuko said quickly, turning to shoot a blast of fire back at them.

"On it," Raya said as she stopped dead in her tracks and took a deep breath. Zuko skidded to a halt and blinked in shock.

"Come on, what are you doing?" he said, watching as the men caught up to them. She ignored his urgency and placed her hands at her chin. When she exhaled, a blast of emerald flame erupted into the night sky, covering the surrounding area in green light. The blast flew several meters into the sky, and she hoped it would be enough. She finished the move and felt Zuko grasp her arm. He tugged her along, and she began running with him again. "Are you insane? If you're going to firebend, do it at them!" Zuko said with frustration.

She didn't have time to respond as a jet of flame shot passed her. She felt it graze her arm, and the resulting burn caused her to cry out. She turned and with a rapid motion sent a gale of air streaming into the men, knocking them backwards. She continued on quickly, her eyes scanning the skies as she did so. The roof tops ran out suddenly, and she stumbled on the edge. Zuko's hand shot out and grabbed her, steadying the Demitar as she back pedaled.

"We're going to have to fight."

"No, we're not," Raya said, eyes sky ward. Zuko deflected a blast of flame and the three men were very near. Without warning, the Demitar wrapped her arms tightly around Zuko's waist, and instructed him to hold on. He looked at her, his amber eyes a cloud of confusion. She realized in that moment that he was only a couple inches taller than her; their eyes met easily. She bent her knees slightly, and as soon as he realized she was about to jump, she felt his arms grasp her tightly.

With a blast of air, she propelled them up into the air high above the men on the roof tops. Another blast of fire shot towards them, and she let an air blast knock it off course as her other hand reached up. Suddenly, a large white dragon swooped within her grasp, and she closed her hand on a saddle strap. Rai Jin gave a disgruntled rumble as he pulled the two upward and away from the danger.

X

"Are you crazy?" Zuko asked heatedly as they landed in the Southern Gardens. Rai Jin touched down gracefully, a small sweep of air disturbing the nearby plant life. Raya swung down easily and began to walk away from him. She heard him slide down Rai Jin's side and approach her swiftly. A strong hand reached out and grabbed her arm, though it wasn't unkind. She paused and felt her fists clench.

A crimson sky was beginning to fill the skies above them, and Raya felt her frustration at the Fire Lord begin to mount. She pulled her shoulder out of his grasp and turned to face him, eyes hard. "Ursa told me everything!"

"Did she? Did she also mention that the same people that tried to take my life would be thrilled to see your head delivered on a silver platter? Did she tell you what kind of danger you're in by being here at all? You shouldn't be here, Raya! Why do you think I forbid you from leaving the palace grounds? It's not safe out there!" He shouted. The flood gates of his temper had burst with the stress of the past two hours. "Those men we just left on the roof tops back there? They're called Loyalists, Raya. They are completely devoted to my power hungry father. If they'd have captured you . . ." He trailed off as though the thought was too painful to even present hypothetically.

"I can take care of myself! I'm the Demitar, remember?" Raya threw at him as she turned to walk away again.

"I would believe that if you acted like the firebender you supposedly are! I'd believe it if you used fire half as much as you used your airbending! All you do is run and duck and dodge, but you never fight! You didn't even fight my father until you were pushed into the Avatar state; even then you tried to solve your problems with words and avoidance. There are things in life that have to be solved directly, with force. Not everyone wants to sit down and listen to what their enemy has to say; all they know is that they want you dead, and they won't stop until it becomes a reality," Zuko said, his voice waning as he watched her carefully. What would he have done if he couldn't have protected her back there? What would he do now if he had let the Demitar die?

"I'm an airbender, Zuko. What do you want from me?" she asked in frustration as she turned to face him again. She didn't realize that he had been following close behind her, and she now stood with her face only a foot away from his.

"You are an airbender, but you're a firebender, too. You are from the Fire Nation, and you were born with fire inside of you, whether you think so or not. You can love the air nomads and you can try to be one as much as you want, but you will always be Raya, the Fire Nation Demitar."

A/N: Well, how's everyone feeling about the direction of the story? I tried my hand at a Zuko perspective; that scene felt important to the flow of the story. I'm trying to make the theme of the second book Raya confronting her Fire Nation heritage. Reviews are always welcome.