First, thanks to those who've reviewed, favorite-ed, and put both me and this story on alert. You guys rock!
About the story: I'd originally intended this to be a three-arc story of the recovering of Ursa by Zuko and Katara. Then it got dropped down to a two-arc because I couldn't figure out a good place to cut the second half of this. Now, it's back up to a three-arc. While I was revising, it came to me. The second arc will feature a young Ursa and Ozai, and be about their "rise to power," such as it is. I've been having a blast writing Ursa, and I can't wait for you guys to read arc 2: The Jewel of Kirachu. Arc 2 might also come with a companion one-shot series. Since everything's in Ursa's POV, we miss out on some thing. But that's for later. For now, I give you:
The Chase: Chapter 2
"You'll have to go in ahead of me and tell the old woman at the front desk—not her son—that we're Hau's charges. She'll give us the key, and we can go right up," Zuko said as they stepped onto the path that would take them into town. The sky was beginning to lighten, and the ache was firmly settling into his muscles.
That night, silence had been on their side, and they'd made it through the forest unmolested. No one had been out, no one had seen them, at least that they knew of. There were times in the forest when Zuko was sure he'd seen something human shaped following them.
"What if they're closed?"
"They won't be." Katara turned to start walking, but Zuko grabbed her arm. "And look mean. Hau told her we were dangerous."
"Look mean?" Katara asked, her arms crossed. "Really, Zuko?"
Zuko shrugged, but she still headed toward the inn, even if she was muttering to herself. When they got inside, Katara did as instructed, scanning the nearly full room. The early morning conversation had been quiet, but completely ceased as the two entered. Zuko looked over the faces of the patrons, too. It was too warm for the hearth to be lighted, but a few hanging fixtures had been lit to aid the swiftly cresting sun. People were trying not to look directly at them.
"We're Hau's charges," Katara said.
Several ears perked up at this, and Zuko wondered how often Hau sent bounty hunters to this inn. He counted among them three he'd personally hired, and two that Hau made arrangements with.
"Oh yeah?" The old woman retorted. She slammed her hands on the desk. "Hau's 'charges' have been coming here nonstop for the past three weeks."
"That's because he knows he can trust you," Zuko said, sliding a White Lotus tile and a gold piece toward the old lady, although he was pretty sure neither he nor Hau had handed out any assignments in the past two months. "We hope to be able to count on your continued support and trust." He turned his head toward the lady, his jaw set. He watched her eye the gold, but it was her son who picked up the White Lotus tile.
"So," he said, a little too loud for Zuko's comfort. "You're one of them, are you? You've been coming in quite often, too."
Zuko sat their bags down, nudged Katara with his foot. Hau had been certain that there'd be no trouble, but if things got ugly, they would have to abandon their mission. It could be months or years before they could get back in the area, but by then it might be too late. He couldn't take that chance, but he also didn't want to ignore the faint alarms going off in his head.
"I could slit your throat ear to ear in five seconds, don't play games," Zuko growled, trying and failing to calm himself. It had been a long night, and this mission had his emotions out of sorts.
Katara lay a hand on Zuko's arm. He hadn't even realized he'd reached for his dagger, but she was using her body to push him away from the desk.
"Look, did you have an agreement with Hau or not? It's been a long night, and we're just here to sleep."
The old woman nodded, snatching the tile from her son and pushing it toward Katara—not Zuko. "Just tell Hau that we want a bigger cut. He doesn't pay us enough for this."
Katara took the key that was handed to her, picked up their bags, and practically dragged Zuko after her as she made her way up the stairs. He glanced back at the boy, barely older than they were, as they stepped onto the landing. He made a mental note to have both Hau and Iroh check up on him, and to double check on the activity in the area.
"Come on," Katara said, opening the door to their room.
It was small, had only a bed, a dresser, and a private bath, despite there being one on the floor above. It cost a little more, but Zuko was dead set on having one. They would be keeping odd hours doing grueling work and they deserved a little 'luxury.'
Katara just barely closed the door when Zuko flopped face first onto the bed and let out a loud moan. The bed was soft and the pillow softer, and Zuko relished the comfort.
"Get up before you make our bed all sweaty."
Katara was already peeling off layers of clothing. She was pulling her shirt over her head when Zuko looked at her. He watched as she chucked the shirt into a corner, then took off her shoes, followed by her pants. She turned to him as she began undoing her braid.
"Aren't you going to get ready for a bath?"
Zuko walked over to her and took Katara's hair out of her hands, unbraiding it, and running his fingers through it to make sure it didn't tangle. She sighed and leaned back into his touch as he slid his hands to her shoulders and began massaging away the tension. When he was done, Katara turned to face him.
"Ok, your turn."
"I kinda don't want to be touched right now," he said, stepping out of her reach when she extended her hand. He ignored her hurt and confusion and his thoughts of how soothing a massage would be and headed to the bathroom to start the water running for their bath.
He was still jittery from that last burst of adrenaline, and angry with himself for getting so…well, angry. There was no reason for him to lash out at the kid over a stupid tile—one that he used to hate himself—and he hadn't missed some of the looks on the patron's faces. Dislike and fear and contempt. He'd seen people look at him like that before, and it never made him feel good about himself. There were one or two Zuko had wished only disliked them. There were two people in a far corner who—he was sure—recognized them. He did his best to hide his scar beneath his now shoulder length hair, but hiding it completely wasn't exactly possible.
Of course, he could have imagined it all. It was very likely that two people dressed in black with their faces covered, one of whom had swords on his back, drew a lot of attention. Zuko knew it was more than exhaustion that was making him tense, but if he let his thoughts go down that road, he might lose his resolve.
"You should probably stop the bath before it overflows," Katara said, one hand resting on the doorframe. She took a step inside. "Is this ok?"
Zuko nodded.
"I hope you don't plan on bathing with all your clothes on."
He didn't, but he wasn't sure he had the strength or inclination to stand. Sighing, Katara came to him, stepping between his legs and hugging him to her. Zuko took in a shaking breath, wrapping his arms around her. Maybe a little touching was ok.
"We'll find her, Zuko. We haven't been searching for that long—"
"Three years," he said into her stomach, louder than he'd intended. "Three years of searching and asking and begging that bastard to give me one clue."
Katara tried to pull away, but Zuko held onto her. She rubbed his head and back like one might do to an upset child, and he let her whisper meaningless things like "we'll find her," and "she's fine," before allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. Katara pulled his shirt over his head, placing a quick kiss on his lips before kneeling to pull off his boots.
"You know," Zuko said as she stood up to remove his pants, "in the Fire Nation, when a woman attends a man like this, it's usually because she's married to him. It's a sign of respect and service."
Katara smiled up at him. "I also do your hair and put your crown in, so technically we're married already."
Zuko wanted to smile at her, really he did. He just couldn't make his face work that way. She was right, and that just made it hurt even more. They'd been playing this game ever since their time on Ember Island during the war, and only stopped when they had to be attached to other people. He could think of so many who would be sorely disappointed in his behavior if anyone ever found out what he and Katara were doing. It wouldn't matter how much they cared for each other, or that they never messed around while they were otherwise attached. All Hakoda or his Uncle, or any of their friends would see would be her performing the duties of a wife and him providing and caring for her as a husband while they were unmarried. They would see shame and dishonor.
"We should probably take that bath so we can get some sleep," Zuko said, turning away from her.
When they were both in the bath, and the water was comfortably steaming, Katara came in for the kill.
"How are you, Zuko? Really?"
He'd been sending her mixed signals all night, keeping her close to protect her, then pushing her away, then desperately wanting to be close to her. Sometimes he wished they weren't so close, because then he wouldn't talk so much, and she wouldn't know so much, and she couldn't get him to say more. Sometimes life was easier when he was just angry all the time and people stayed out of his way.
"I'm tired of searching and not finding anything," Zuko said at last.
"Think about it, Zoozie. What she did, that was something even Ozai wasn't willing to do. You know what he's like. He's probably been hunting her the entire time, trying to keep up with where she is. If it got out that he couldn't even steal the throne for himself…"
"Why do I let you call me those stupid names?"
Katara crossed her arms. "Your sister calls you Zuzu, so I think you have no grounds to complain at all. And stop changing the subject."
Zuko turned his back and hung his arms out of the tub. "Why won't she come back? I've made it known that she's more than welcome to come home. And it's not like anyone knows what she did."
The water swished behind him, and reflex kicked in when Katara reached out to him. He nearly elbowed her in the head, but she ducked out of the way. She brought a small arc of water above her head to further deflect the blow.
"Sorry," he muttered.
Katara just pushed his arm away so he was leaning on the edge of the tub again.
"I'm going to touch your back now," Katara said. That made Zuko relax enough to smile. Well, it was either that or Katara soothing away the tension in his muscles. She moved her hands expertly from his scalp, down his neck, across his shoulders, and down his back. Comfort and sleepiness came to him. He arched his back and sighed when her hands drifted down to his lower back.
"How are you doing?" he asked, hoping to distract himself.
"I'm fine, why do you ask?"
"About you and Aang?"
Katara stopped moving. "You know how I feel about that situation."
"Not because you said anything, though."
Katara roughly and quite uncomfortably ran her knuckles up Zuko's spine. "We've broken up for the last time. I'm tired of doing all the work. He thinks I don't understand about him being the Avatar and having to travel so much. All I did was ask him to tell me when he's leaving." Now she was jamming her elbow in between his shoulders.
"Ok, you need to cut that out," Zuko said, turning around and holding her at arm's length so she couldn't "massage" him anymore.
"Ugh, I'm just so frustrated with him. Do you know he practically told everyone in the village he was leaving, where he was going, and how long he'd be gone? Everyone except me!"
"So you told me."
"Do you know how big a fool I looked to everyone? And even worse? When I have those dreams? He doesn't understand. It's like, when I'm ready to talk to him about it, he gets nervous and changes the subject, but when it's clear I need to be alone, he harasses me until I have to practically bend him out of the house."
Zuko sighed. He'd tried to have that conversation with Aang, to explain how the final battle had changed them all. It was weird, thinking how all of his friends had come away damaged, except for Aang. He still looked young and innocent and without a care in the world. He was doing his best to learn everything he needed in order to better perform his duties as Avatar, but the more emotional things, things closer to home…well, he wasn't so good at those just yet.
"Once, we did talk about it, and I told him how it weighed on me, all those people we had to kill. You know what he told me? That I should ask for forgiveness for my wrongs!" Katara sputtered, reaching for words, gesturing like she could see them just out of her grasp. In the end, she opted for a scream of frustration.
"We know how he feels about taking a life, and how stubborn he is about seeing other points of view," Zuko said. "He's trying hard to hold onto the ways of the monks."
"Don't you take up for him." Katara jabbed an accusatory finger in his chest. Zuko swatted it away.
"Let's get out the bath and into bed." When she didn't move, Zuko grabbed her waist and slid her back, kissing her cheek, before reaching for a towel and getting out of the water. "I tried explaining everything to him once, but gave up. Sometimes I wonder if he's really dedicated, or just really dense. They were trying to kill us, and at that point, we had no choice."
They both let The Big One hang in the air, unspoken. After the comet passed, even after Ozai and Azula had been defeated, they still had to fight against hundreds of Ozai's invasion force. They were horribly outnumbered, and finally, Zuko sacrificed himself so the others might have a chance. The rains that came after the comet were helpful, but it wasn't until Zuko started redirecting the storm's lightning that anything had changed.
For his efforts, he was shot with Yu Yuan arrows as he was taking in the third bolt. Without thinking, Katara had used her bloodbending to make the blood flow again and to make his heart beat. With some coaxing, she got Aang to push and pull the air into his lungs. She made her peace with bloodbending when it brought him back to life, Hama be damned.
Reluctantly, Katara followed Zuko, stepping out of the tub and grabbing a towel. She bent the water off her skin as Zuko steamed himself dry. He dug through the pack to find fresh clothes for them, and they got dressed in silence.
It was early morning by the time they climbed in the bed and Zuko draped his arm across Katara's middle. He kissed her neck before closing his eyes.
"Here's to a dreamless sleep."
Katara gently elbowed him. "Zuko, promise me—"
"Don't ask me to make a promise I can't keep."
She was silent for a while before sighing. "Here's to a dreamless sleep."
If he had to kill every last person in that prison to find out if Ursa was there, he would do it without a moment's hesitation, and with very little remorse.
One thing I'm concerned about is the final battle. I'm not sure if it came across well here (and it was only mentioned during a conversation between Zuko and Katara toward the beginning), but my final battle happened differently than it did in the show. I though for a series ender, it should have been more dramatic. In my headcanon, it takes place at the fire sages temple after Ozai has just been crowned Phoenix King.A lot of this isn't relevant to the story, though some lingering effects like Katara's dreams are mentioned. Do you need a more detailed explanation about what happened, and how that's effected everyone? There are other stories where I intend to deal with that a bit more closely, but if people feel they need more of an explanation here, I'll do my best to work one in.