Disclaimer: I don't own the Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters.

The Shadow of the Past

Chapter 12 – Face to Face

Story by Last Butterfly

Summary: Modern AU, no bending. The first chapter is the background of the two characters, and it is the base of the story. How did Zuko gain his scar? What happened to Katara's and Sokka's mother? Read it to find out! - Zutara, Zuko x Katara

Sokka and Azula left school on foot but she refused to talk to him until she was sure they had been far away from Jet who she had to leave. The teen acted cool before leaving but the pale girl was truly nervous about what happened. And the teasing of Ty Lee's previous crush had not been what she wished for at all…

"Sooo," The water tribe boy started after he sat down opposite to her at a park's bench. "Did I accidentally interrupt a date or something? Cuz' you surely look like a nice couple!" He grinned from ear to ear, seeing her turning slightly pink.

"Shut up!" Azula hissed, and her eyes sent daggers in his direction at once.

"Woah," Sokka elbowed on the edge of the table. "I did indeed. Sorry about that…"

Hearing how his voice turned higher and seeing his broad smile proved that it was an obvious lie. She pinched the bridge of her nose with closed eyes while answering. "Whatever, just spit out what you want and let's end this conversation."

The blue eyed boy cleared his throat. "It's about your brother and my sister." He looked away from her for a moment then back but as the golden eyed girl only raised an eyebrow, he went on. "Aaand… their broke up."

"And why should that interest me?" Azula scoffed, folding her arms with a smirk which only meant one thing: she had the power to do something for someone else… she just wasn't convinced that she cared enough to do anything at all. "Or rather… why does that interest you?" She intertwined her fingers before her lips, her eyes seeing through him easily as he turned his head away. "I thought you wanted them to say bye-bye years ago."

"I know," Sokka's smile faded. His left eyebrow twitched before he rubbed his temple then he went on lowly. "But apparently… I… was wrong." Her chuckle made him frown as she leaned on the table.

"And admitting this probably hurt your little ego, didn't it?" Azula laughed on, but he only showed a half-smile only. Without the effect Zuko would have shown to this, this boy was not as much fun. She inspected her nails so that she wouldn't give away her disappointment. "But let's get to the point: why don't you annoy my brother with his love life instead of me?"

At this, Sokka scratched his neck before taking off his sunglasses, revealing that instead of his usual look, he had a rather painful looking black eye. "Do you think I haven't tried that before?"

"Hah, that serves you well," For a slight moment Azula's smirk showed a slight pride. "It was about time if I may add."

The dark skinned teen clenched and unclenched his fists as he slowly shook his head, with a faked smile imitating hers. "I could really get depressed and all about your little comments, but at the moment I'm more interested in my sister's happiness." He finally said as his expressions finally turned serious. "And I think you should do the same."

The girl's gaze remained on him for a long moment before her smile faded completely. Thinking about Zuzu's happiness? It had always been more fun to make him angry, not happy. But on the other hand…

For a moment her eyes narrowed as she looked away, she blew out a bigger amount of air through her nostrils as her so-called 'best friend' came to her mind. If Mai did not care enough about her to think twice before breaking her Rule Number One then she would not wait to see whether that stupid water girl wanted him back or not. This thought made her so mad in mere second that she felt like breaking the bench they were sitting at. How dared that little… b*tch(!) hit on my brother after I told her not to?!

"Fine!" By the time she finally spoke it sounded more like a hiss. Also, she looked annoyed enough for Sokka not to make a comment about how she looked when she was mad. "But I really don't know what I could do in this matter. If beating up my brother would have made him do as I said then this world could be a much, much better place." She sing-sang while her smile reappeared. It didn't take much though till it faded completely as Sokka spoke.

"Well, it's really… kind of my fault for bringing up your father's case in front of Katara when I did not know about the whole thing." He shrugged, avoiding her eyes again, which might have given him a clue to close his mouth right then. "But… I mean come on, who would have guessed that he had been in prison for these horrible things, r-?"

In the very next moment everything happened so fast. In one moment he was still talking and in the other a rather angered Azula grabbed one of his hands, giving a painful twist to his arm and his chin knocked on the table loudly as she suddenly stood behind him with a sneer. "What did you just say?!"

"Auch! Geez, you're breaking my arm! Are you craz-iee?" His voice turned high-pitched as she pushed his arm closer to his backbone but she went on.

"Listen to me jackass," She said through gritted teeth. "My father had Never been in prison, you got that?! That's a lie!" She yelled and only then did Sokka feel sorry for the girl's brother. Hell, if Katara had been like her he would be in trouble…

"L-listen," He muffled as she kept him in that position. "I really don't know what's going on with your family, but I can prove that I'm not lying, okay? Just…" After another twist on his arm and he was jerked away from the table, but from her calculating eyes and still angry expressions made him swallow as he reached into his pocket. He was looking for the article he had about Ozai, only to realize that he didn't have it anymore. He had given it to Hakoda that morning. "I-I just… need to get to my e-mail?" He halfway asked with an awkward look.

"I'm not interested. I know it's a lie!" Azula had been steaming as she took a step closer to him, her hands clenched by her sides. "Don't you think if my father had truly been in prison I would at least know about it?!"

"Azula!" She froze in mid-step as a newcomer appeared in the park, namely her uncle Iroh. "That was enough."

She cursed under her nose as she turned her gaze from Sokka - who started rubbing his wrist - to the old man. He had been furious, it was written all over his face as he fastened his steps in case she would want to get away from him again. "Uncle, don't get involved. You have nothing to do with this!"

From the sound of her, Sokka felt he had better scoot out of the bench, on the end he was further away from her reach just to be safe until Iroh spoke. "Oh, I think I have more to say into this than you could imagine." The girl's golden eyes narrowed at this, and she lifted up her chin, meeting her uncle's glare defiantly.

"I'm tired of you and mother telling me what to do! I'm fed up with Zuko always being the good-hearted brother who I should love and be proud of!" She hissed, her fists clenching by her side as she shouted at the old man. "I've never asked for being stuck with you instead of father; and I'm definitely not going to let this Water Tribe peasant dishonor his name with lying straight into my face!"

At that point the Water Tribe boy believed that he knew what was coming. If he had yelled at Pakku like that he would have been smacked across the face so hard that it would sting for two days. But Iroh did not seem to react like that at all. He hid his hands into his sleeves, his eyebrows still knitted together. "Azula, even though I promised to your brother, who you seem to dislike so much, that I would stay silent but it's time for you to know the truth about your father."

Her expressions showed only a temporary surprise but that faded away quickly as the old tea-maker turned to Sokka. "And I think it would be the best if you heard about this too, after all the mischief you've made…"

This was it. The place where it would all end.

Zuko was not even surprised to see the black Sedan on the street, which almost ran over him. Knowing what the man behind the wheels had been trying to do should have given him a clue long ago.

He was taking deep, calming breaths like his uncle always told him but in a situation like this it did not help much.

Even the light wind made chills run down his spine. His hands felt strangely cold upon the handle of the only thing he brought with himself as a weapon: his old baseball bat. He had to look for it in their house; it had been forgotten for quite a while.

But as he thought about it again, he should have brought a knife or something else just in case too.

His amber eyes closely followed the outlines of the house Katara lived in, watching the windows and searching for any movement inside but nothing happened that would have proven suspicious. Honestly, the whole area looked as peaceful as it did any other day. Only he was aware of the danger which Ozai had meant to him and to everyone he got close to…

He closed his eyes, holding his breath as he listened to any unnatural noise but again he had no luck. He could hear the tinkling of a wind bell, the faint noise of a road a few streets away but what stood out the most had been his racing heartbeat.

Strange, he could not hear a single bird around just a while ago but when he opened his eyes the loud croak of a single crow made him wince. The scarred teen looked at the black bird which was sitting at a tree branch and kept its dark eyes upon him. The bird turned its peak towards the house then back at him, bowing its head to the side before croaking again.

This time he did not even blink. He turned towards his original destination, clenching his fingers on the bat beside him. As he walked up to the house's front door, the crow itself left its place and flew away, taking the same path above the house that he did.

The pale teen found the front door open but getting inside easily had not cheered him on. It only reminded him that he was willingly walking into a trap.

The first thing that caught his attention had been in the living room: a fallen lamp, right beside the couch. He silently walked, holding his bat ready as he stepped inside. Most of the furniture seemed otherwise untouched but the phone stood with its wires hanging from it. Someone obviously cut the cords, and Zuko already had a good guess whose work it had been.

His eyebrows furrowed with concentration while turning around. He tried to remember which parquet tile could make a noise beneath him, avoiding each one as he headed for the first room, Sokka's.

He had to remain calm, otherwise his breathing would become too loud and his thoughts would turn fuzzy. He knew well that he did not have much of a chance as he had been expected to come here, but hell, Ozai could not know for sure when he would appear. And he needed to use out the element of surprise as best as he could.

Damn it! The door of Sokka's room had been locked. The scarred teen inwardly cursed when his hand started to shake as he let go of the doorknob.

Ozai is inside the house. He has Katara with him… and a gun. He blew out a bigger amount of breath, reaching the second door. But he stopped right in front of it, shaking his head with closed eyes. Do not panic… you can't allow that to yourself!

Strangely enough as he stood there in silence, this thought seemed to help a bit. So he tried to hang onto that.

You don't have time to freak out.

His eyes opened again. Standing in front of Katara's door he was sure they were on the other side. His father would be there, with the girl who meant so much to him that it ached.

While holding his breath, he lifted his bat beside his head, silently opening the door only to find…

Nothing. The room was completely empty.

For a moment he remained standing there, looking around the familiar surroundings. Every piece of furniture, every picture in that room had been in place. The bed was neatly made just as always. For a long moment his gaze lingered at the pillow-seated bench window. A picture came to his mind with Katara sitting there, in the red and blue pullover she had borrowed from him… wavy hair locks falling out of her bun as she smiled up at him…

And that was the last straw. Seeing her room empty had evoked a fierce feeling in his gut that he would not let his father hurt her. That man had no right to take away the only person who made this room a home… Ozai had no right to take away the person who made him whole. He was not going to let that to happen. Not until his heart could make a single beat!

He left the door hung open as he turned to the only room he hadn't been in yet. The dark wooden door of Hakoda's bedroom had been the final line he had to cross. As he had never been in there before, first he only wanted to open the door enough to have a peek inside. Too bad the door itself creaked just before he could have done so.

He gritted his teeth but then when he heard a noise from inside he held his breath. There was no point in standing in the hallway anymore…

He pushed the door open, lifting his bat ready as he stepped in but what he saw made his eyes widen.

The golden eyes of his mother met his from the middle of the room. She was tied to a chair she was sitting on, her mouth taped close, but seeing him made her try to muffle words to him he could not understand.

"Gods, no…" He moved forward hurriedly, dropping to his knees by her side, pulling on her bindings. His weapon lied beside him as he tried to free his mother without much success.

How could I have been such an IDIOT not to bring a knife?! His inner voice yelled at him, while he stuttered to her while trying to free her. "I-I did not know you were here too. I'm so sorry!" He finally moved to remove the plaster from Ursa's face, and she gasped for air almost hungrily. "Where are they? Mom, where is Katara?!"

She took deep breaths, looking him in the eye with tears finally flowing down her face. "I don't know, I… when I've woken up only he was here; Zuko, son you must leave this house!" She said hurriedly, but as he only pulled on the ropes around her she said roughly. "Zuko, I mean it! Get out of here!"

His fingers slipped on the knots without any effect, making him bit his lip not to curse before he straightened in his place to look his mother in the eye. "I'm not leaving either of you behind." He said, a faint smile coming to his lips only to reassure her while Ursa was looking at him. Only a moment later - when her glance moved with horror to a spot somewhere behind him - did he know that they were no longer alone.

When the door made a creaking sound his hand found the handle of the bat, and he rose to his feet, ready to face the darkest shadow of his nightmares: his own father.

-- MEANWHILE --

The metal cuffs around Katara's wrists had not been the worst while being locked up in her brother's room. The pale man's golden eyes following her every move had been more unnerving.

He did not tell her who he was, but maybe deep down she should have known. Maybe she was just too afraid of the answer…

After a while he started smiling as his gaze moved to the anklet Zuko had given her. But it was the last thing which could have calmed her down. This man was wicked. First she had been more than afraid when he shoved her inside this bedroom, fearing from the worst, but as he did not even try to get close to her, her fears died down somewhat. Or at least she thought so.

Because when the man had finally stood up from beside Sokka's desk and crossed the room, she pulled herself further onto the bed and away from him.

This made him smirk as he casually leaned on the bed's wooden board. From this angle Katara could see the flaming dragon tattoo on his biceps; and when she did so, he directly flexed his muscles causing her to stare, thinking about for how long one would have to work out to look like him…

"So," She quickly cast her gaze away from him as he spoke, pointing towards her ankle with an intriguing movement of a really sharp-looking knife. "That is a nice piece you have there."

Gods, make him be a simple burglar who just likes jewels… She prayed inwardly, returning her blue eyes up to the man while trying to possibly scoot even further away.

The Fire Nation man only seemed to smile wider at her actions, finding himself enjoying the look upon the girl's face. The pair of blue eyes which had been burning like flames at first also held a slight wariness ever since he forced her to make that phone call. Her face showed no bruises but her left cheek had been a bit swollen, and her lower lip had a small crack thanks to his well earned slap across her face.

She was indeed beautiful. If only she hadn't belonged to the Water Tribe…

"May I ask where have you gotten it?" Ozai smiled to himself as the girl blinked confusedly, but then again she turned her head away answering lowly.

"My boyfriend gave it to me."

A small chuckle left his throat as he eventually put his blade away, taking another step closer to her. "Is that so?"

Katara looked up at him, her hands clenching the edge of her blue dress as she pulled her legs up from the floor too. But when he sat down on the other end of the bed, her heart started racing again. When one of his hands reached out towards her ankle, she abruptly pulled her legs under her, her cuffs rattling as she clenched into the other headboard.

He pulled his hand back, still smirking at her as he said coolly. "Relax. I have bigger plans with you than a simple rape."

A shiver ran down her spine as her back met the stone wall. For some reasons him saying this out did not seem to convince her at all. It must have been written all over her face too because he had only let out another laugh and his husky voice suddenly sounded scarier than anything she had heard in her life…

"I am just wondering," The man spoke, his smirk reappearing as his hand found the end of one of her hair locks, curling it around his index finger when her breathing became louder. It was then that his smile turned devilish while meeting her glance. "How much do you love him?"

Her chest rose and fell rapidly and for a second she froze like a deer in the headlights. Well, if this moment hadn't brought back memories…

"Wh-what do you mean?" Katara stuttered, the smile on his face sending all of her senses one thing: danger.

Ozai whirled her hair between his fingers, leaning closer to ask in merely a whisper. "Would you die for him?"

His eyes were unreadable, this kind of look she had never seen before. But it chilled her to the bone. "What do you want to do with me…?" She asked shakily and her breath caught in her throat as he brushed her hair behind her ear.

In that moment his smile changed. His words rolled off his tongue as if he had been talking to his own flesh and blood… "That depends on his answer to this same question, don't you think so?"

She couldn't help trembling as he moved away, but when he stood up suddenly, holding his knife again. She gasped as she had only heard a crow croak but the man seemed to know more.

"Stand up."

Katara frowned at this first but as the man looked back at her from above his shoulder, his eager smile and burning look made her eyes widen. Not only because of his following words but because she finally remembered where she had seen him. Back in the shopping mall… she remembered him talking to Hakoda!

"My son is finally here."

She gasped, putting her hands before her mouth. "You are…!"

The man merely raised his brow with curiosity, slowly turning towards her while her sapphire orbs remained on his facial expressions. All so familiar and yet so different! His eyes, his brow… everything was almost the same, except the cold smile plastered on his face, but she would have never figured this out herself not even after her father's comment… 'Call me crazy, but don't you think that man looked a bit like Zuko?'

"You are Zuko's father…?" Katara felt her knees tremble, but she did not know whether it happened out of fear or because she had been crouching for too long. As he stepped closer towards her spot, his form which was looming over her had been intimidating enough to turn her voice into a whisper. "You are Ozai!"

His smile mixed with satisfaction when she said out his name. "You have heard about me then." He said rather than asked before he moved again.

With a swift movement she could barely follow, he grabbed her below the arm, pulling her to her feet beside him and for a moment the world was whirling before she had been stopped. With a hand pressed against her mouth, she suddenly felt something cold and sharp against her chin.

"Shhh," When her breathing turned louder again, Ozai leaned to her ear, whispering so that he would not be heard from the outside. "Do not ruin the surprise for him." And as he chuckled darkly she couldn't stop the burning sensation in her eyes, her first tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

-- AND NOW… --

After the door creaked Ozai knew there was no point in remaining silent. To his surprise Zuko rose to his feet pretty soon himself, holding a baseball bat.

"Welcome, son." He spoke, bowing his head to the side with an evil smile. He had to wait for a long time to finally stand face to face with him. "You've grown a lot since we last met."

The sight of his father holding a knife just below his girlfriend's chin made Zuko froze. He could hear the words leaving his father's mouth but his brain could not adapt to them. He met Katara's gaze, and as her blue eyes were clouded with tears, his hands clenched harder against the wooden surface; his eyes looked like burning gold as he turned his gaze back to the one who held her captive.

The expressions on the scarred teen's face as he saw his beloved Water wench embraced by him, and the feeling of steel within his hand sent a tingling sensation down Ozai's spine. How sweet revenge truly is…

When he recognized the 'weapon' in his son's hands, he couldn't help laughing even viler than his son had heard him before. "Well, aren't you sentimental?" The teen only frowned as the other's lips curled upwards into a smirk he had known painfully well. "You come against me with the same bat I have given you. How thoughtful of you…" His hand finally slipped down from Katara's mouth and he wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her close. When Zuko's eyes flashed at that, he even pulled the girl closer before saying in a taunting tone. "But don't you remember how useless it proved to be seven years ago?"

The teen involuntarily winced at the memory of that night, causing his father to let out another throaty chuckle. He directly stepped in front of his mother – as if he was her shield, - but his following eyes focused only on Katara.

There had to be a way out of this… there had to!

"Ozai," Ursa's voice caused her son to look at her, and he guessed his father did the same. "Let them go."

She sounded suddenly so calm that it was surprising, at least to Zuko but a small part in the back of his mind suggested that probably she was the only one in the room who knew how to handle the man. Too bad that this time it was far from enough…

"If I have ever meant something to you then please…"

Katara felt that all of the man's muscles suddenly flexed and his hold on her tightened. "You should know the most where talking leads to when I haven't allowed it." His voice had been chilly, and the way he strengthened the pressure of the knife against her skin grew cunningly. She let out a small noise as the steel stung her but only when Zuko yelled did she know that she must have cut…

"Stay where you are!" Ozai hissed at his son who came closer hurriedly. When the boy listened to him, he removed the knife from the girl's throat. "And now, take a step back."

A pair of blue eyes followed the bloody steel with slight disbelief. Am I bleeding? She was not sure whether it had been the shock or the man's professionalism but she had barely felt any pain… Am I going to faint?

Zuko's gaze darted from the knife to Katara. Seeing blood oozing out of her wound and down her neck made his hands start shaking. He took a step back as he was ordered but his usually unreadable expressions showed confrontation. Panic even. Only this time had he finally realized that this situation was not something he would be able to control. Furthermore, he only hoped that they could all survive. I'm such a fool…

Ursa bowed her head so that he could not see her face. It had been her fault, all her fault! Hadn't she spoken he wouldn't have used that knife. Had she had the courage to kill him herself his son would have never been scarred. Had she never married him, this all would have never happened…

Ozai looked from his son to his wife and then back. The edge of his lips slowly started to curl up again after the last minutes. He made a slight nod as Zuko finally looked him in the eye. "Good. And it would be about time for you to drop that." He spoke, pointing at the baseball bat. "Don't ridicule yourself further with it."

The scarred teen had one last glance at the piece of wood before putting it down to the ground.

"Kick it towards the wall."

He did so too.

"And now, to avoid any future interruptions," The voice of his father changed again. It showed he was in a very good mood again. That was something Zuko did not like at all. And even less when he went on with an evil smile. "Put that tape back on your mother's mouth please…"

A/N: Ooooh, it is ON! XD

So, khm, I'm finally getting into action. Lol, the fact that Azula can beat up Sokka just as well as Zuko means that she is the ultimate predator. (Besides Toph. XD I don't know which one of this two could win. Probably Katara would wait in the shadows and when both of them fainted she would claim to be the winner above all.)

Uhm, other than that....? Zuko, XD you truly Are stupid, but we luv you~ And gods, Ozai is a total badass.

I remember now! I wanted to give you a hint with symbolism: a crow is usually a pretty bad omen, it is also called as the 'bird of death'. O___O

The next chapter's title is: End Game. (I'll upload that one sooner, :D it's almost done!)