A/N: I am SOO SOORRRY!! It's been months, I know, and I have been working my butt off to do homework and do this story. I wrote out like 20 pages but it dragged on for a while and I just couldn't get it to sound right. Plus, I had a lot of people add me on their story alerts but I only got a few reviews so that wasn't helping much either. (Trying to guilt you people). I got this done. It didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to but I thought I HAVE to get this up for all you people that actually like this story. Also, studying for my APUSH exam and I'm not even American - I don't even know why i'm taking the class. So its been busy. I actually should be studying right now. Anyway, enough about me. Here's the story - hope you like it.
P.S. I had this really cool bathroom fight scene so I'm thinking if it fits I'll throw it in the next chapter. What do y'all think?
He looked up briefly and ducked as a loose dirt clod flew over his head, narrowly missing his face as dust sprinkled his hair. He snorted humorlessly and brushed it out as he turned back. The next clod hit him dead on. Spluttering incoherently, Sokka threw down his boomerang which, to add salt to his wounds, stuck into the ground.
"Just a simple guy…I didn't ask for any of this…" he grumbled leaning down and tugging his boomerang out. His hand pulled back sharply as the ground gave way and he hit himself in the nose. Muttering angrily and ignoring his throbbing nose, he shoved his boomerang back in its case. "Have you two finished playing yet?"
Aang stopped his bending as he looked over, his hands frozen in midair about to come down on the earth. Toph quickly took advantage, cleverly bending the earth beneath him up and sending him flying back onto his butt.
"Hey," he protested, rubbing a hand over the sore spot.
"Take it like a man, Twinkles."
Sokka cleared his throat to interrupt them.
"Sorry Sokka," said Aang turning his attention back to him. He sank onto the log beside the water tribe boy. "What were you saying?"
Sokka let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm saying we need to move on."
"What about Katara?"
The Water Tribe boy took a deep breath, a torn expression in his eyes. "We have to forget about her for now."
"What?"
"Listen," Sokka snapped, "I don't like it. I don't want to leave my sister with that creep but this is our only chance to defeat the Fire Nation and we don't know where Katara is. Most likely she's in the Fire Nation or something."
Silence met his words.
Aang spoke up first. "So, what do we do?"
"You have to get ready for the Invasion, Aang. The entire world's relying on you."
"What about your dad and the others?" asked Toph.
"They're supposed to be coming here," Sokka replied as he unrolled his map on the grass. He pointed to a spot not too far from their location. "If we leave tomorrow morning we should arrive at the rendezvous point in two days." His finger moved to another smaller island, closer to the Earth Kingdom. "Dad should be here, picking up a few people I thought could help. And then, we'll all meet up on the morning of the invasion."
"Sounds like a plan," said Toph as her hand curled around a rock. "Heads up, Twinkle Toes."
Sokka sighed as he dragged himself out of the way of flying dirt and stones, sitting in front of Appa as he watched Toph wallop the Avatar. The huge bison groaned loudly and nudged the boy with his nose.
"I know, Appa," Sokka said patting him. "I miss her too."
Pain.
Unimaginable pain the size of the Earth Kingdom. And it was in her head.
Katara groaned, regaining consciousness as she lay on the soft bed and tried to bury her face into the pillow to soothe the throbbing that made her feel like someone had cleaved straight through the middle of her skull. She blinked, her eyes watering as she felt herself tilt strangely, a cloud settling over her head, her parched throat burning as she tried to breathe.
Her arms shook as she attempted to sit up and tried to take in her surroundings. The light bit at her eyes, blinding her, and the pounding in her head intensified tenfold.
She brought her hands up to clutch her head and closed her eyes, whimpering and shaking her head as the pain refused to leave. Then her stomach churned and she felt the bile rise in her throat as she leaned over the side of the bed and threw up in the steel basin lying on the floor. Her hands trembled as she pushed her sweaty hair out of her face, moaning weakly as her back heaved again. When she had finally coughed up everything in her stomach she fell back on the bed, her shoulders shaking as she pressed her hands over her face.
As she lay there, the door opened and steady footsteps made their way towards her although she didn't look up. Then she heard his low voice issuing orders for the bucket to be removed and food to be brought in. There was a slight grating noise of the pail sliding across the wooden flooring to the door and one set of footsteps came to a stop beside her, a scent of tea wafting above her.
"Are you awake?"
She groaned as the noise jarred her head and she turned away from him slightly, still keeping her eyes shut tightly. "Turn off the light."
He exhaled sharply in what she recognized as an annoyed gesture and the candles dimmed down slightly casting more shadows in the room. "Better?" he whispered leaning over her and prying one of her hands away from her face. She weakly batted at him and he took the opportunity to grab her hand and wrap it around the cup of hot tea he was holding. "Drink this."
She struggled to pull herself into a sitting position, the tea slopping around in the cup. Katara stopped shifting as a little tea slipped over the rim and dripped onto her finger, burning her. She glared at Zuko who was watching her impassively.
"Could you at least hold this?" she snapped irritably. He reached out and grasped the cup while she dragged herself up, one hand on her head as she took the cup back.
She took a sip and gagged, pulling a disgusted face.
"It's Pu-erh tea," he explained, trying to keep the bite of impatience out of his tone. "It's supposed to be for medicinal purposes."
She mumbled something inaudibly, still holding her head and shoved the cup back at him, burying herself under the covers, moaning loudly.
Zuko gritted his teeth. He didn't want to do this but a hung-over waterbender really wasn't useful to him and they were running behind schedule.
He lifted up an edge of the blanket and gently pushed her over to make room. Her head shot up immediately, brown hair falling all over her face as she focused her red eyes on him.
"What – are – you – doing?" she asked crossly scooting away from him.
"Stay still," he growled grabbing her arm and trying to get her to lie back down.
"Can't you talk quietly?" she grumbled, struggling against him until his hand pressed against her forehead and the heat spread across her skin. Her movements stopped immediately and she sank slowly back onto the pillows, her eyes fluttering shut.
"Sorry," he whispered sarcastically. "I didn't tell you to go get drunk with a bunch of sailors."
"We are…" she mumbled shifting closer to him, "not having…this conversation." The frown smoothed out, leaving peace and contentment. It was inexplicable sometimes why she found his presence so comforting but right now she didn't care. "Little warmer," she said practically rolling into him as she turned on her side. She took a deep breath inhaling his scent and found it relaxed her even further. At least she didn't feel sick anymore.
Zuko sat still, not trusting himself to speak.
"You should've been there," she said after a while, turning her face towards him, adjusting his hand against her head. "It was fun."
"I'm sure it was," he replied dryly glad for the distraction. "Drinking myself senseless sounds like the pinnacle of fun."
"I feel so sorry for your people," she shot back, her voice losing the weariness slightly. "If you ever become Fire Lord, they'll probably just die of boredom."
"You think I'm boring?" he said incredulously.
"No, I know you are."
He rolled his eyes and leaned back slightly. She mumbled again to stop him from moving and a comfortable silence fell among them, neither thinking how strange this might be, the captor and the captured sitting so peacefully.
After a while she groaned, clutching her stomach and rolling onto her side, his hand slipping from her forehead to her cheek.
Zuko sighed. When he brought her onto his ship, he somehow never imagined himself sitting here trying to cure an alcohol-induced headache for the Avatar's waterbender.
"Are you feeling better yet?" he asked impatiently after a couple of minutes of incessant groaning. If she threw up again…
"What do you think?" she snapped her groaning pausing for a split-second.
"Don't you want to find the Avatar?"
She yanked the blankets above her head, mumbling something. He rolled his eyes and pulled them back. Katara squirmed from the sudden loss of heat and childishly turned her back on him.
He stood up to leave and she almost – almost – called him back to make the pain in her head go away but her pride stopped her and besides, she didn't need a stupid fire bender to help her anyway. She closed her eyes and listened as his footsteps receded, scowling at the wall.
Was she right in trusting him so much? Did she trust him? After everything that happened between them in Ba Sing Se she didn't think it was possible for her to trust him again. And yet, here she was, cuddling up to him. She felt disgusted with herself. She actually let down her guard and got herself drunk. What kind of idiot was she? Those Fire Nation men could have tried to take advantage of her…or poisoned her…or thrown her overboard while she was too out of it to bend. And then they would have gone off to Black Cliffs and captured Aang. Because she was stupid enough to actually tell Zuko the rendezvous point. Katara sat up, ignoring the sudden light-headedness, and let it slowly sink in. She told Zuko where Aang was. She actually told him. She grabbed her hair in frustration and forced herself out of bed, the pain increasing tenfold and her stomach turning again while stumbling over to the door and yanking it open. She stopped. What would she tell him? There was nothing to say, no way for her to take it back. She let the door shut as she slowly backed away until the backs of her knees hit the bed and sunk down in it, crawling under the blankets. She wasn't simply going to forget about it but she'd have to deal with it when she was sure her stomach wasn't going to bring up everything she'd ever consumed.
Katara had begun drifting off again when she heard someone knocking on the door. It opened as she turned around and Shen entered carrying a tray laden with breakfast, a big grin on his face despite looking a little worse for wear.
"What happened to you?" Katara asked, wincing at the sound of her hoarse voice.
He grinned, dragging the low table into the middle of the room and placing the dishes on it. "Same thing that happened to you. Although, in my case, it was a lot worse."
"How do you know?" she said sitting up, feeling the throbbing beginning to settle down.
"Did Prince Zuko wake you up at sunrise after lying on a cold metal deck the entire night and make you clean the entire place down?"
Katara held back a slight grin; she'd like to see him even try. "No."
"Bet you got the royal treatment," he said, laying some utensils down beside her food. He eyed her surroundings. "Warm bed, tea, fresh food, water…princes fawning over you…" he added slyly.
"As a matter of fact, I did," Katara replied refusing to acknowledge the double-meaning in his comment.
Shen didn't say anything for a while, settling back down on his haunches as he finished laying out the table. Katara slid off the bed and joined him at the table, taking a reluctant bite of the warm congee. She ate slowly at first, then quicker as her appetite returned. She paused when she realized he was still watching her. "What?"
He shrugged. "Nothing. Just…you're a prisoner."
Katara stopped midchew. "So?"
"I – I wasn't on Prince Zuko's other ship but Jee told me. He…wasn't anything like what he is now."
"What do you mean?"
He shifted uncomfortably. "I mean, he was always angry and quiet."
Katara relaxed, rolling her eyes. "He still is always angry and quiet."
Gold eyes flickered up to meet hers. "No, I mean, around everyone else he's angry and quiet. Around you…he's different."
Katara's heart sped up a little. "What are you getting at?"
"I mean, I think he likes you," said Shen quietly.
Katara snorted. "Why on earth would Zuko like me?" she said looking at him as if he were stupid, just as the door opened. Katara's mouth dropped open in horror. Zuko's eyebrows were raised as their eyes met and the Water Tribe girl felt her cheeks burn.
"Uh," said Shen breaking the silence as he scrambled to his feet. "I'll just…" he bowed hastily at the door and Zuko stepped aside so he could squeeze through, not breaking eye contact with Katara. She dropped her gaze to her knees, surprised steam wasn't coming out of her ears. She stared at nothing, listening as the door closed and his footsteps, barely audible, made their way around to her. Why couldn't he have just stayed wherever it was he'd gone? She frowned as she found herself staring at black boots with a single gold stripe running down the centre of them. Then his knees came into view as he folded himself neatly in front of her. His finger rose and tilted her chin up to face him.
"I take it you're feeling better," he said softly, his warm breath brushing her skin. Katara blinked, her heart taking off.
"I am, thank you," she managed to get out. Did she sound too breathless? His fingers resting on her chin slid over her skin, leaving a searing hot trail where his thumb had ever-so-casually brushed the corner of her mouth before skimming over her cheek, cupping her face with his burning palm while the tips of his long pale fingers breezed against her ear. She stopped breathing.
"I see you've made…acquaintances with certain members of my crew," Zuko said quietly, his thumb softly grazing her cheek. He looked as if he were fighting back a smirk. Katara's heart pounded loudly in her chest, her mouth unable to form words, as she begun to feel dizzy. He was so close…she could smell his heady scent…spices, cinnamon maybe, accompanied with a warm smoky smell…and his fingers were making her blood boil with their careful caresses of her face. Inches hovered between them, very, very tense inches. She couldn't tell if he was angry or…what he was doing. Her eyes flickered to his lips, mouth too dry, stomach twisting in knots.
"Huh?" Some part of her registered that he'd spoken.
His voice sounded in her ears again, low and husky. "Although that's really not the reason you're here, correct? Don't you have an Avatar to find?"
She felt her cheeks heat up as the moment broke. She swiftly leaned backwards and grabbed his wrist, pushing his hand away from her face.
"You seem…jealous," she shot back, trying to play his game. A ghost of a grin flashed across his face as he pulled his arm sharply out of her grip.
"Why…" he asked, his eyes dancing with amusement, "would I be jealous of Shen?"
Katara raised her eyebrows and refused to back down, craning her head slightly to maintain eye contact. "I wasn't talking about Shen, although I'm willing to bet that until this morning you didn't even know his name."
He smirked suddenly. "Then maybe it's a good thing I'm not betting with you." He leaned back and reverted to his usual distant self. "You need to bathe." Ignoring her look of outrage and embarrassment, he dragged her up and spun her around, pushing her out of the room.
--
It was painfully ironic how she'd been the one to drink herself silly and he was here with an incessant throbbing in his head.
He leaned his arms over the metal rail, looking down at his reflection in the water below. It rippled, distorting his blank expression. He no longer had any more energy to scowl or glare or rage. Confusion had set in anger's place, driving the usually determined prince into weariness.
It was impossible. He couldn't hover with this indecision any longer. Azula, his father, his uncle, Katara, the Avatar…all pulling at him from different directions. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?! The frustration remained as a pounding reminder in his brain, his arms crossed over uselessly. He couldn't even force himself to bend his emotions out.
His vision blurred for a minute and he was quickly reminded of his illness in Ba Sing Se after freeing the six-legged bison. Surely he wasn't going to fall again? Zuko blinked rapidly and breathed a sigh of relief as his sight cleared.
Azula's plan was perfectly clear. He could follow it easily and prove to his father he was the true heir to the Fire Nation's throne. Now that he paused to think about it, his father didn't even know what he was out here doing…it was a mess. Zuko groaned again, back to square one. Thinking hard, he mentally mapped out all the details of his sister's plan.
One – Ambush the Avatar.
A major fail. The child alone was much too creative and powerful to overcome single-handedly, not to mention the loyalty of his friends that he travelled with. So, he'd done the next best thing – he'd taken the Avatar's water bending teacher. Unintentionally, of course. She had just fallen into their midst, and he had taken advantage of the fact. Not to mention she was the Avatar's weak point and he'd managed to get her to tell him where the Avatar would most likely be. Not without effort, of course. He was still surprised she had divulged the information to him after her obvious hurt at his betrayal in Ba Sing Se but needless, she'd still given it to him.
Two – Convince the Water Tribe girl he would take her to the Avatar and request his help in getting the throne.
To be honest with himself, it was a ridiculous idea. He wasn't particularly sure she bought that story or if she even took note of him telling her that. She had just been captured, wounded and perfectly angry. He was partial to believing other reasons had convinced her to help him. It was reasonable that he'd be chasing the throne (he'd talked about it more than enough when he was chasing them) – just he wasn't so keen on using the Avatar to defeat his father to get it.
Three – Take said Water Tribe girl to rendezvous point and capture the Avatar.
Easier said than done. There were a lot of things Zuko had failed to take into account, things he usually would have, things he had counted when spending three years searching endlessly for the last air bender. One of them being he had no idea what he would do when he finally reached the Avatar.
The last couple of days (or was it a week?) had sent Zuko's mind whirling. And it had everything to do with her.
He didn't hate her. In fact, she was fairly ok. A little annoying when she talked back but nothing that rivaled Azula. He respected her bending ability; she'd proven herself more than enough times.
He dropped his head. This was so not supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to care. He wasn't supposed to feel guilty. He wasn't supposed to be even having these thoughts. And that little stunt he pulled this morning was supposed to intimidate her not continue lingering in his head like it meant anything which it didn't.
"Hey."
Zuko turned, a little annoyed with the interruption, and watched as she walked up to him. She was composed and business like, a complete opposite of her flustered appearance this morning. He took some pride in being able to cause a reaction like that in her.
He waited for her to speak while she leaned against the rail, her hand drawing up some water lazily and letting it float in the air. She finally spoke. "I don't appreciate your behavior this morning," she said stiffly.
What? He cleared his throat to choke back the snort he felt coming up. "I'm sorry to have offended you...princess," he added scathingly.
"You should be," she said haughtily. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, a disbelieving look on his face. "Are you sure you're not related to Azula?" he asked before he could stop himself.
She gasped at the insult and froze the floating water as she flung it at him. He neatly side stepped and it smashed against the metal barrier.
"You don't want to fight me," he told her. "If the last time was any indication."
"Please, you lost spectacularly, remember?" she shot back, putting her hands on her hips.
"You seem to be remembering a different life time."
"We'll see." She fell back into a defensive stance as he copied, shifting into a guard stance, palms open and alight. Both stared at each other, waiting for the other to move. Katara felt the pull of the water around her, a small stream suspended over her shoulders, barely breathing. Then she saw him smirk and moved.
He formed a fire ball and threw it at her…or faked it. It flew towards her and suddenly flew back to him as she moved her arms. Her water whip snapped out and hit thin air as he feinted, and he threw the sphere as she withdrew her block. She leapt to the side in surprise as he quickly turned her attack against her.
Zuko snapped his wrists out as he formed two thin flaming whips and they shot out at her with impossible speed, his strength and skill improving each time he inhaled, absorbing the sun's power. Katara pulled herself off the ground as she flung two frozen daggers at his hands where they shattered as he blasted them out of the air. He punched out at her, aiming the high intensity flames at her knees as she pulled a water shield in front of her. Steam engulfed them both and he moved silently across the deck, moving to where he last saw her.
Suddenly something grabbed him around the neck and a sharp kick to the back of the legs forced him to the ground, choking. He reached behind and, seizing the back of her top, yanked her around and slammed her to the ground. A cry of surprise flew from her mouth as she hit the deck with a painful thud.
Zuko's hand curled around the back of her neck and twisted her other arm around behind her back. She panted heavily, struggling slightly before relaxing.
"That – all you got?" Zuko said breathing heavily.
"No!" With the flexibility only a waterbender could posses, Katara's leg came up and she hooked her foot around the back of his head and brought him face first onto the ground. He let go of her immediately and she rolled out of the way as his hand snapped forward to grab her. She scrambled to her feet as he sat up and before he knew it, she was running at him and the air gushed out of his stomach as she tackled him, slamming him on his back, gripping both his hands and trapping them above his head. She grinned triumphantly as she lay atop him, keeping him down. Both breathed heavily as they stared each other down.
The prince wrestled against her grip, his muscles straining in his back as he struggled to push her weight off him. She wasn't heavy, having a slight yet strong bender's build, but she was resting on him and pushing him down. And Agni help him, make her stop shifting.
"Get off," Zuko muttered, trying to jerk his leg to shove her off.
"Say please," she taunted, laughing at his uncomfortable expression, her giggles quaking through his body. Agni hated him. He closed his eyes, realizing in horror his cheeks were flaring, hoping it would just stop, and he could go somewhere far, far away and forget about it all. Unfortunately, Agni still hated him and apparently, so did Katara, as she crossed her arms across his chest and rested her chin on them, watching him with a smile on her face as she settled herself in for a long wait, even crossing her ankles in the air.
"What's wrong, Zuko?" she cooed. "Ready to give up yet?"
He didn't answer, arms going limp near his head as he bit his lip. This was definitely payment for this morning, he just knew it. "Stop. Moving," he said through gritted teeth.
"Huh?"Her eyes went wide and suddenly she stopped shifting. "Oh." She loosened her hold on him immediately, blushing as well although strangely flattered. "Sorry." She was about to move when his eyes snapped open and he looked at her, the burning amber eyes warning her not to stir.
"What did I just tell you?" he hissed his face an unnatural red color as she held back a laugh.
"Poor Zuko," she grinned wickedly using her hands to push herself up so she was hovering above him, leaving a little space between them. "Don't worry. It's a completely natural –"
He seized the opportunity immediately, a punch flying toward her face. Katara pushed herself away with a surprised cry, skittering back as he drew back his fists and lashed out, rocketing to his feet as he did so. Her head snapped back as his knuckles brushed her jaw, avoiding the worst of it and kicked out at his thigh, knocking him back into the rail. The water flew around her as she flicked her hand out, aiming to land the final blow. Zuko's eyes zeroed in on the water whip as it flew towards his face and he leaned back to avoid it…his hands slipped on the slick metal and he disappeared over the side.
Katara stared at the spot he'd just been and heard a distant splash. She rushed to the edge and leaned over, watching the water foam, waiting for his black hair to surface and hear his angry yell. Nothing happened. She blinked and looked around in case he surfaced somewhere else.
"Zuko?" she called out softly. She glanced over her shoulder, hoping to maybe find someone to get help. There was no one there. Katara skipped over to the other side of the ship. The water was calm and rhythmic and there was no sign of the Fire Prince at all.
She swallowed hard and tried to control her suddenly uneven breathing. Running back to the other side, she called again, louder this time. "Zuko!" She strained her eyes desperately to see if his black hair would pop up, sopping wet, from the water below. Nothing happened.
Then a thought struck her. Could firebenders even swim?
She heaved herself onto the metal bar without thinking and launched herself into a neat dive.
The water shocked her as she sliced through it, its icy hand closing its tight grip around her, threatening to penetrate her soft fragile body and freeze her insides. The salt stung her eyes as her long hair billowed around her head like a brown cloud. Bubbles rose past her face as she looked back up to where the light was brightest and with a huge kick, propelled herself back up.
Gasping as her head broke the surface; she pushed her hair out of her eyes and ran a dripping hand over her face.
"What are you doing?"
She spun around, her hair flinging water everywhere as she squinted into the sun.
He was treading water easily, floating almost casually in the ship's wake as his eyes danced in amusement watching her. His dark hair stuck to his scalp and his clothes were sticking to his skin but he was alive and completely there.
Katara felt herself freeze as an emotion (anger?) began to build up slowly inside her.
"I – I – thought –" she began trying to think of something.
"I was dead," he finished smirking.
She stared at him, at a complete loss for words. "N-no just – just that –"
"Admit it. You were worried."
"That I wouldn't have an escort back to my friends," she muttered to herself turning her back on him and trying to figure out a way to get back up the ship. She was about to conjure up the water beneath her to push her up when she felt his hand on her shoulder.
She slapped his hand away and he rolled his eyes, tilting his head upwards. Katara followed his gaze and saw the grinning faces of Shen and the grey-haired Jee who must have come when they heard her calling. She growled under her breath as they tossed down a rope, both exchanging wicked smiles with each other. Zuko, seemingly unfazed, caught the end and handed it to her. She took it without looking at him and gripped it tightly, before placing the sole of her waterlogged sandals against the hull of the ship and attempted to walk up. She managed to walk two steps before slipping back down, splashing water all over Zuko.
She surfaced again, taking satisfaction in watching him splutter and shake his sopping hair off his face. He scowled at her.
"Can't climb a rope?" he asked disdainfully.
"Obviously not, genius," she replied as scathingly as she could and trying not to feel humiliated as she heard the suppressed laughs above her. He forced her hands onto the rope again and put his hands on her waist. Her face turned pink.
"What are you doing?" she snapped, keeping the nervous tremor out of her voice, glad he was behind her.
"Teaching you a lesson. When I lift you up, grip the rope with your knees and then pull yourself up with your arms."
"When you what?" she squeaked as she felt his hot hands grip her waist tighter and raise her out of the sea easily. Water pooled down her legs, the edges of her skirt slapping her knees as she gritted her teeth and forced one of her hands up the rope. Her arms seized up painfully and she ignored the increasing pain as she dragged her weight, not helped with all the water clinging to her clothes and hair. Almost crying with relief as her feet found the edge, she slumped over the metal rail, allowing Shen and Jee to pull her over.
She panted, trying to regain feeling back in her arms, realizing the lack of training in the past couple of days was taking its toll on her body. Turning around, she was surprised to find Zuko swinging himself up expertly and climbing over the barrier. Stupid, perfectly in shape Fire Prince.
She bent the water off her body and tossed it away, deliberately letting it cut close to him. He raised his eyebrows at her as he steamed off and indicated Shen and Jee to leave. Shen smirked at Katara as he passed, giving her a knowing look. She bit her tongue to hold back her scream of frustration. Why did she jump in?
Katara turned her head to look at Zuko who was watching her carefully.
"What?" she said rudely.
He shook his head. "I suppose you won that."
What? She blinked before realizing what he was talking about. "Oh. Yes, I suppose I did." She smiled smugly, glad he was admitting it.
He nodded absent-mindedly, looking deep in thought. Then he looked up, familiar smirk returning as he straightened and began to walk past her, stretching his hands out as he did so. "Well, congratulations…peasant."
She snarled and her hand whipped water and there was a resounding smack as it splattered over his head. He spun around and then the deadly dance began again.
--
It was dark inside the room, Katara's quiet breathing the only other sound.
Zuko closed his eyes, inhaling deeply, legs crossed as the flames of the candles in front of him rose and sank with each breath. He let his mind slowly blank as his tutors often taught him, trying to reach deep into that inner peace his uncle always talked about.
What was the right decision?
It was obvious now. Whatever brought peace to the world was the right decision regardless of his own needs and wants. He breathed again.
But could he really betray the Fire Nation? His father, the man he'd come so far to please? Zuko inhaled a little too sharply for the peace-breathing he was practicing. He was back to square one.
He had to make a choice. And he had to make it soon. He stared at the wall without seeing it, finally giving up on the meditation. He could help the Avatar…but that would make him a traitor along with his uncle. He would be banished once again from his country.
His fingertips pressed against his temples in an effort to help him think.
They had one or two days left of travelling by ship unless he got the water bender to bend the ship to the island. Then there was Azula to worry about – this was her plan and she always made sure they worked. Not to mention she had the bigger ship and knew exactly where the Avatar would be thanks to him. So that meant she'd probably get there before him too. Zuko dropped his face into his hands, clutching at his hair. She'd promised him that the glory would be his.
Azula always lies.
The prince looked up and glanced behind him where he could see Katara's face, her cheek pressed into the pillow. Some of her hair, usually held back by her 'loopy' beads, fell onto her forehead. Zuko stretched his hand out to push it back before checking himself and pulling his hand back.
What are you doing?
He sighed, feeling a headache forming in his head as he watched her, shoulders rising and falling every time she breathed. He would be taking her to wherever it was her friends were on that island then…
Zuko got to his feet and strode out of his room, being sure to shut the door quietly as he left. It was late and the corridors were dark. He conjured a handful of flames to guide him through the maze of halls, his footsteps echoing eerily on the metal floor. Soon he found himself outside a plain door, the metal around the edges glinting from the firelight. He knocked lightly and pushed it open slightly.
Inside was pitch black as he stepped inside, holding his hand out in front of him. Something red caused him to jump and step back painfully into the door. Swallowing and holding his palm higher, he realized it was just that stupid monkey thing his uncle had bought so long ago from those pirates. How it came to be in here, he couldn't begin to fathom as he turned back around to face the bed.
There was no one there. Zuko's heart rate began to speed up as he stepped closer to the empty bed, feeling his throat constrict.
"Uncle?" he said hoarsely looking around, the flames flickering as he swept his hand around violently. The entire room was empty. Zuko spun around once more as though expecting his uncle to step out from the shadows. His attempts were futile and he finally sank down onto the bed, letting the light go out. He jumped up suddenly, feeling something dig into his behind. The light flared in his hand again as he picked up the small object, laying it flat in his palm.
He stared at it for a moment before a tiny smile crossed his face and he closed his fist around the white lotus tile.
Kinda shorter than I was hoping but I think it turned ok...let me know what you think! =) Can't write without inspiration....