A/N:
WARNING!
THIS CHAPTER IS RATED "M"
Language and sexual situations.
Zuko had been awake for quite some time before Katara began to stir in her sleep. He opened his eyes to watch hers flutter open. She shifted onto her back a stretched before turning her face to look at him.
She smiled and asked if he slept well. "Yes," He lied. But this wasn't irregular, he hadn't slept well in years. He stiffened and his eyes focused on the far upper right hand corner of the cell. "What is that?" He croaked out. Katara turned and followed his gaze up to the ceiling.
"What's what?" She asked, looking at him over her shoulder. He began to push himself up and Katara quickly turned and put her hand gently onto his shoulder. "No," She ordered softly. "You stay down, I'll go look." She pressed him down onto the floor and stood. She made her way to the right side of the cell and looked up. "It's a vent," She said, standing under it, looking up. She furrowed her brow and listened closely. She could make up a bunch of muffled voices. How had he heard that? She got up on her tip toes, extending her arm to grab the lever that would open the vent.
"Don't!" He called, stopping her just before she opened it.
"Why?" She asked, looking over to him. "We could hear better."
"What if it creeks and they hear? We have to wait until it sounds like they're not in the room the other opening of the vent is in." Katara nodded and let go.
"You can hear better than I can, do you think you could make what they're saying if you came closer?" Zuko nodded and began to slowly push himself up. Katara quickly went over to him, kneeling in front of him and gently putting her arms around him to support him. He leaned onto her and she was surprised at how light he was. She looked him up and down and realized just how much muscle he was beginning to lose. His body had already begun to leech every ounce of energy it could. They slowly made their way over and sat under the vent, leaning against the wall.
Zuko sat in his usual position as Katara sat with her legs crossed in front of her. She leaned and gently placed her head on his shoulder. "Is there anything you would like me to heal?" She asked, shifting to look up at him.
"Yeah." He breathed out before laying down onto his stomach, placing his head into her lap. She pressed her lips together and covered her mouth with her hand. She hadn't looked at his back the night before and saw that they had obviously whipped him. She immediately saw the biggest gash and figured that it had been hurting him the most. She bent some water from the air, cleaned his wounds and tried to heal the biggest ones. She huffed and realized she was much too tired and weak to put the amount of energy she needed to fully heal them all. She had cleaned them well, and hoped that with no dirt or infection in it's way, they would all heal quickly.
Katara gently placed her hand on his shoulder blade and lightly ran her finger tips over his skin. She leaned back, resting on the wall as she closed her eyes. She wondered if anything was going to happen today, if the boys were okay, what they were doing, if they were going to ever come rescue them, if her and Zuko would have to escape, if they could ever save up the energy.
"Katara," The sound of his voice snatched her from her worries. She hummed shortly, answering him. He turned and looked up at her. "What did you do after you lost your mother?"
"Well," She breathed out, lightly running her knuckles down the length of his arm. "I didn't have much time for mourning. I had to help my grandmother heal the wounded, of course I had no idea I could have used water, so it was very tasking. I helped the older women with their children, even helped deliver some. I went hunting and fishing with Sokka. I was kept very busy, and I suppose that was a good thing, now." She concluded, thinking about what she would have done if she hadn't been so busy. She probably would have been a wreck, as some of the other children had been after their fathers left for the war.
"What about you?" She asked lowly, immediately wondering if she should have asked such a question to someone as mentally unstable as Zuko. He sighed and looked away from her. "I'm sorry." She blurted out. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. You don' have to-"
"No, I'll tell you."
"Zuko, really, you don't have to."
"No, no." He insisted, waving her off. "I'll tell you." He sighed, looking back at her. "I uh," He began, turning and pushing himself up. He paused, trying to find the right words. "I completely lost it." He said, sitting next to her in his usual position, knees up to his chest with his elbows resting on them. "If you think I'm bad off now, you should have seen me then." He said, looking off into the distance. "I would start crying out of no where, I would collapse." He paused and swallowed hard before continuing. "The medics told my father I was suffering from severe depression. I had gotten so skinny, I was literally skin and bones. I remember waking up one time and them pouring water into my mouth. That's when they began to force feed me." Katara's eyes widened, and she leaned closer, snuggling against him, listening intensely.
Time Warp
Ozai creaked the door open, allowing a thin strip of light into the room. A nine year old Azula lay there in her bed, fast asleep. He slowly closed the door before making his way down the hall, noticing Zuko's door was wide open, and his bed was empty. Ozai scowled and turned, making his way down another hallway. 'This is the fourth time this week.' He thought, making his way up a few flights of stairs. He came to the open arch way that separated the stairs from a hall, and saw a small body laying curled up in the middle of the floor, lit dimly by the moonlight. "Zuko." He growled, walking towards him. "Prince Zuko." He called again, standing before his son. "Get up." Ozai demanded, glaring down. He huffed, rolling his eyes and bending down, grabbing Zuko by the arm, lifting him a bit. The prince's body dangled limply, his dull eyes staring off into space. Ozai sighed and picked him up, holding him bridle style in his arms. Ozai pressed his lips together, and something struck him, the father inside him. He took a deep breath, swallowing hard, forcing his tears back. Zuko had become so light, Ozai was sure he now weighed much less than his little sister.
Ozai slipped into his room and gently put Zuko down onto his bed, feeling every bone in his spine ripple over his palm. Ozai sat on the opposite side of the bed, facing away from his son.
"This has been going on far too long. You need to stop this," He growled out. "You will rule this nation one day, you must learn how to handle it. You can't keep letting family get in the way of your political duties, Prince Zuko." Ozai turned and looked at his son's limp body lay there on his bed. "You'll have a whole nation that depends on you." Ozai furrowed his brow, stood, and made his way back over to Zuko. He leaned, looking out the door way to make sure no one was around before he leaned over, pressing his ear on his son's chest, over the place his heart was. Ozai stood straight once he was sure he heard a steady heart beat and slid his arms under Zuko's body, lifting him up bridal style again.
Ozai took Zuko back to his own room and let him roll out of his arms, onto the bed before turning and leaving for the night.
!
Once morning came, the Fire Lord pressed his son's door opened and scowled down at him. Prince Zuko was still laying in the same position he had rolled into the night before. Ozai lifted him by the arm again, and pulled him off of the bed. "Get up." He ordered, pulling him higher, forcing him to choose between standing or sitting. "Go feed the turtle-ducks." He said, grabbing Zuko by the arm and pushing him forwards. Ozai lingered behind, making sure Zuko didn't fall to the ground before him.
!
Zuko sat, staring blankly into the space before him. He sat with his legs crossed, clenching a ball of bread tightly in his small hand, causing his knuckles to turn white. He sat just at the edge of the water. Zuko swayed back, then forward, allowing his eyes to slam shut as he fell face first into the water.
"Prince Zuko?" A passing guard called out. He panicked when the Fire Prince remained still. The guard rushed to him and fell to his knees, snatching Zuko out of the water. "Prince Zuko!" He called, placing his hand on the boys cheek. Zuko's head fell back as his body went completely limp.
Another guard ran up and supported the prince's head up. "We're going to have to take him to the medical floor." He said before looking over his shoulder to another guard. "Inform the Fire Lord, tell him his son will be taken to the infirmary!" The guard nodded and ran to find Ozai. The other guards gently picked Zuko and held his small, limp frame in their arms as they made their way into the Palace.
!
"Fire Lord Ozai," a medic greeted as he bowed before his leader. "Prince Zuko will be held here for a few days. We're going to keep an eye on him, try to get him to eat. We won't force him anything just yet, though." He said, looking down at the boy laying on the bed before him. Ozai scowled and clinched his fists.
"Did he collapse again?"
"Yes, sir, but this time, face first into the pond of the back garden."
"I see, and he recovered himself?"
"No, sir. One of the guards had to pull him out." The guard sighed and looked across the bed, over to Ozai. "My lord, if he doesn't make any progress, and continues to refuse the nutrition his body needs," He paused, noticing the small Fire Princess entering the room. "Well, he," He paused again, motioning to the child that now clung the Fire Lord's robes.
"Azula," Ozai called, looking down at her. "Go, we're speaking." He said, attempting to wave her away.
"I want to see Zuko!" She protested, grabbing her father's forearm. Ozai sighed, and picked her up, resting her on his hip. Azula's eyes widened and she let out a small gasp. She hadn't realized her brother had gotten so small, she could see every one of his ribs, his collar bone stuck out and his cheeks had sunk in dramatically. His hips bones stuck out and his legs were nothing but sticks. Frightened, she squirmed and tried to wiggle herself out of her father's arms. Ozai huffed and put her down.
"You wanted to see!" He scoffed as he watched her run out of the room.
"If Prince Zuko fails to recover soon, and if we're unable to successfully force him to eat, he won't make it passed the end of the month."
Ozai wrinkled his nose and turned, "Do what you will." He said, waving off the medic before making his way to his office.
!
Ozai was deep into his work when the door to his office suddenly opened. He looked around and wondered who would ever disturb him in such a way. He was sure he hadn't seen anyone enter the room when he suddenly felt a small hand on his leg. He turned, and saw Azula climbing up into his lap.
"Azula," He warned. "You know better than into interrupt me while I'm working."
"Is Zuko going to die?" She asked casually, looking up at him.
Ozai furrowed his brow and scowled down to her before allowing his face and shoulders to fall. "Perhaps." He said, leaning over her in attempt to continue working. Azula rolled out of her fathers lap and ran out of the room, closing the door behind her.
!
Azula lay patiently in her bed, facing away from the door. She saw the thin line of light pour into her room, before slowly being pushed out by the closing of the door. Once she was sure Ozai had passed her room and was far down the hall, she threw her clovers off her carefully arranged her pillows under them. She walked back and made sure that if anyone were to open her door, it would seem as if she was still in her bed. Azula slipped out of her room, carefully and silently closing her door. She tip-toed down the halls and stair wells, making her way to where Zuko was.
Once she reached his new room, she slipped in, closing the door behind her before she made her way to his bed, climbing into it next to him. She sat, and opened her mouth. Her original plans were to come in there and taunt him of his imminent death that would ensure her the throne, but she looked at the body before her. She had never seen someone so small. Even her dear friend Ty Lee, who was the thinnest of her small group of friends, had a healthy layer of meat covering her bones. Azula could have easily count the bones of her brother's skeleton if she wanted to. This honestly terrified her, and she looked at his dulled eyes. "Zuko, I know I'm mean to you and I tease you all the time," She began. "But," She paused, clinching her jaw shut and digging her nails into her palms. "You can't die." She cried, snaking her small fingers around his arm. "I miss mom, too!" She admitted for the first time, leaning in closer to him. "You just," She struggled. "You can't die, okay?" She looked at him, tears now making their way down her cheeks. She huffed at his silence and slid off the side off the bed. "You can't!" She ordered, desperately trying to compose herself as she jabbed him in the arm with her nail before turning and leaving him.
!
"Good news, Prince Zuko!" One of the medics began as he sat next to the Prince's bed. "Your uncle will be returning from his military leave soon. It took him quite some time to get everything together for his return, don't you think?" The medic paused, and tilted his head to the side, carefully looking for the rise and fall of the Fire Prince's chest. He gasped, and stood, realizing there wasn't one. "Zuko, Prince Zuko!" He called, shaking the boys body. A small group of other medics ran into the room at the sound of the shouts. "Hurry, alert the Fire Lord and call for Kyu!"
!
Ozai pushed passed the small group of medics and stood at the edge of the bed just as a medic he didn't recognize entered the room. The medic's immediately made a path for him, allowing him to stand at the other edge of the bed, across from Ozai. The medic covered his hands with gloves of electricity, and slowly began lowering them to Zuko's body. Ozai envied the medic's ability to so easily summon and control the powerful bolts of energy, but he quickly assured himself that he would continue his practicing and that he would get there.
Zuko's body convulsed as the medic gently placed his hands onto his chest for a short moment. He lifted his hands and waited for the prince to move on his own. "Again!" One of the other medics called out. Kyu had to repeat the process two more times before the prince began to gasp for air. "He's breathing! Grab the water!" One of the medics handed a picture of water over to Kyu. He slipped his hand under Zuko's head and gently poured water into his mouth. Zuko refused and spat the water out immediately. Kyu tried once more, and Ozai quickly pinched his sons nose and held him down by pressing his hand onto his chest. It was either suffocate or swallow. Zuko gulped the water and gasped for air, turning and coughing. "Good thinking, sir." He heard one of the medics say as he got a glimpse of Azula watching the whole thing from the door way, wide-eyed, obviously stunned and frightened.
!
"Hello, my nephew." Iroh said gently as he glided into the room. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" He asked, running his fingers through Zuko's hair. "Come, how about you and I go into the garden, I'll tell you all my stories of the Earth Kingdom while we feed the turtle-ducks and have a nice, hot cup of tea." Iroh paused, waiting for answer. "Would you like that?"
Zuko took in a deep breath before letting out a long sigh. He blinked and looked over to his uncle. Zuko nodded and and slowly pulled the covers off of him. Iroh pressed his lips together, holding in a gasp as he averted his eyes away from his nephew's body. He wrapped his arm around Zuko's back to support him, ignoring the fact that he could feel every one of his ribs and lump of his back bone.
Iroh let out small chuckle before looking over to his nephew. "Perhaps we should bring some extra bread with us." Zuko breathed out what Iroh figured to be a small laugh and nodded, lightly smiling up at his uncle.
Zuko and Katara
"That's when I began to recover and bond with my uncle... he had also been recovering from a crippling lose of a loved one. We helped each other." Zuko finished, looking over to Katara. She had obviously been crying. He gently rested his hand on her cheek and rubbed his thumb over her tan skin. She sighed and held his hand in hers.
"I'm so sorry, Zuko." She whispered out, closing her eyes and leaning down, placing her forehead onto his shoulder. "I had no idea," She whispered out. "I had no idea."
"Things are messed up everywhere in the world right now," Zuko said, slipping his fingers under her chin, gently pressing upwards to have her face him.
"I know, I know." She said, averting her blue eyes away from his amber ones. "I see that now." She looked back up at him just as he shifted his eyes upwards, to the vent. "Can you make out what they're saying?"
"They're walking around. I think they're about to come down here." He said scooting over closer to the right, away from the vent. He leaned forward and watched the stair case carefully. Katara looked over her shoulder at the sound of foot steps clanking down the stairs. One of the men opened the cell door while the other motioned for Zuko to come forwards.
"We're not through with you, yet." He growled before bringing his attention to Katara. Glaring at her through the corner of his eyes, he nodded his head towards the left, silently telling her get up before vocally saying it. "You get to play a big role in this little show." He grabbed her by the arm and twisted her to face the door before pushing her forwards to stand beside Zuko.
As they made their way up the stairs and into the hall, Katara saw Zuko suddenly tense up as he took in a deep, sharp breath. She looked up at him with worry in her eyes, and gently laced her fingers with his, giving them a small squeeze as she gave him a small, reassuring smile. He let out a sigh and looked away from her.
Katara bit her lip and looked down to the floor. She could tell he was trying to mentally prepare himself for whatever it was that was about to happen, he was going to try to block it out again. That was one of his defense mechanisms, she figured. He had rejected food the couple of days, just as he had when he was younger. He once blocked out his senses so well, he was unable to feel his body starving and shutting down, causing him suddenly collapse. Everything he had spoke about doing in the past, he was repeating here.
But back then, there was no one there who actually needed him. He had spoken about his little sister crying on that one night, but she had their father. Katara knew she needed him desperately in order to not only physically, but mentally make it out of this hell hole she had fallen into, but she could feel it in her gut that he needed her more. She huffed, and squeezed his fingers tighter just as they were coming up to the door of the room they had been thrown into the night before.
"Glad you could make it," The Captain's voice rang out. "The show is just about to begin." At this, him and his crew let out a laugh. Katara rolled her eyes at him laughing at his own joke. "Onto the bed." He said to Zuko, pointing to the mattress. Zuko stood still, hesitating for a good few seconds, before doing as he was told. This triggered another laugh from the Captain. "What?" He asked, still laughing a bit. "No fight this time?"
"Yeah, I wanted a rematch!" One of the crew members belted out, putting his fist into the air, causing another good laugh from him and the other pirates.
"Tch," The Captain rolled his eyes, waving them off. "It's probably a trick. Chain his arms to the bars of the headboard again." He said, as he suddenly pushed Katara onto the bed, causing her to land just at Zuko's feet. As she was trying to sit up, the Captain stepped over and ripped Zuko's pants from his legs. Katara immediately looked away, covering her now blushing cheeks with her hair. The Captain slipped his hand under her chin and grabbed her face, forcing her to look in Zuko's direction. "Jerk him off." He ordered. Katara pressed her lips together and looked down, she had no idea what he wanted her to do.
One of the crew members laughed as he motioned towards her. "She doesn't even know what it means!" The Captain smirked and turned her head to have her face him.
"You haven't got a dirty mouth, have you?"
"She does after last night!" One of the men exclaimed. Of course, this remark caused all of the pirate crew to burst out in laughter. Katara snatched her face from the Captain's hands and glared at the wall. She clinched her fists and thought hard about water bending. How dare they make fun of her like that, degrade her in such a way! Just as she lifted her hands to take water from the humid air, the Captain grabbed her by her wrists and forced her hands downwards, onto Zuko's member.
The Captain pulled her arms towards her before pulling them back up, forcing her to stroke the Fire Prince's privates. "There," He said, releasing his grasp on her wrists. "Get used to doing that, slut." He growled out, lightly smacking her on the cheek with the back of his hand.
Katara scowled and hid her face under her hair and between her arms while still following orders, though she still hadn't decided to water bend or not. Her mind was quickly made up after she glanced over to Zuko's leg, noticing all off the cuts and welts, she was reminded of what she may have to go through as a consequence of using her bending. She clinched her jaw and kept her eyes slammed shut as she struggled to not talk back or act out as she had to sit and take orders from a bunch of disgusting pirates. She wanted to stop and say 'no' each time one of them told her to 'go faster' or 'squeeze tighter'.
After what seemed like an eternity of hearing orders on where to place her hands and what to do with them, she felt Zuko's leg suddenly rub against her side. She opened her eyes and looked up to him. She figured he was panting by the way his chest rose and fell, and she watched the muscles tense and suddenly ease before tensing again.
She hissed and leaned back, immediately taking her hands off him when strings of thick, white liquid erupted from him. "No!" The Captain grabbed her by her wrists and forced her onto him again. "Nope, keep going."
Katara tensed and watched Zuko writhe around and shake. Once he let out a long, low growl as he tensed and shook terribly, she let go despite her previous orders to continue.
Surprisingly, they allowed her to stop and they took the cuffs off Zuko. Once again, a couple of the crew members guided them and pushed them into the shower.
Zuko turned quickly, before slamming face first into the wall. With his back against the tiles, he slowly slid down into a sitting position. He looked over to Katara and quickly averted his eyes away from her after seeing that she had already been looking at him. She let out a huff as the cold water began to rain over them. She leaned back against the wall and tried to peel the wet shirt away from her skin. Annoyed and frustrated, she gave and took her attention to the boy beside her.
"Zuko," She called out. He sighed and slowly turned to look at her. "Does it hurt when that happens?"
"It," He paused, trying to find the right words. "The actual...climax part," He said slowly. "No. But when you continue like that, the feeling gets kind of unbearable."
"Oh," She breathed out, looking down to watch the water hit the floor of the shower. She sighed and began to pull strands of water up before letting them fall and splash back onto the floor.
"I hate this." Zuko announced suddenly. She paused her waterbending, holding a strand of water still in the air. "This stuff is supposed to be like, beautiful and meaningful and stuff. Not forced and disgusting." Katara nodded in agreement before bringing her attention back to her bending. She paused again when she felt him gently grab her arm. "Come here," He said softly, pulling her towards him. He took her and rested her back against his chest as she wrapped his arms around her waist. He slipped his thumb under the rim of her pants and pulled up slightly.
"Zuko," She warned, looking up at him questioningly.
"Would you rather me do it here, where it's just us, or later, where it's us and bunch of brutes enjoying the show? Who knows what else they'd have me do, and you know they're probably going to have me do it sooner or later." Katara wrapped her arms tightly around his free one and rested her cheek on his bicep.
"Here." She answered, turning and looking up at him.
"We don't have to."
"No, it's okay." She assured, gazing into his eyes. "I trust you." She whispered. Zuko smiled ever so slightly before leaning down to kiss her. She smiled against his lips and tightened her grip on his arm as his hand slipped below her belt line.
After a few good minutes of petting, he was sure she was wet enough and he slipped a finger into her. He pumped in and out a few times before adding another. At this, she let out a small groan and leaned over, placing her cheek on his knee as she had done before. After a while passed, she began to pant heavily and placed a hand over her lower stomach.
Zuko breathed out and asked, "Is your stomach hot?" She nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on the feeling of pleasure he was giving her. At her answer, he slipped a third finger into and rubbed her nub with his thumb. She let out a cry and leaned over as she dug her nails into his arm. "Shh," He hushed her as he leaned over her before latching onto her neck. She moaned out and sat back up, pressing him against the wall. She pressed her cheek against her shoulder, forcing him to detach his mouth from her skin. He let out a small growl before swooping down and catching her mouth with his.
Katara let out a long moan, ending it with a squeal as she climaxed. She crossed her leg over his hand and rolled out of his arms, shuddering and panting on the floor before him. Zuko smiled and picked her up, carefully placing her into his lap. He brushed the hair from her face and kissed her, but broke the kiss quickly after realizing just how cold the water had gotten.
Again, the two sat under the shower head, out of the waters range while they waited for it be shut off. They waited patiently and Katara was sure they had waited at least another hour and the water still continued to run.
"This is annoying." She huffed out, bending a small strand of water upwards. She dropped the water once the shower head was cut off and waited for one of the crew members to open the door.
It took a few minutes, but the door finally opened and one of the buccaneers entered the room with a new change of clothes for the two. They changed quickly and followed him down into their cell.
Zuko immediately sat against the wall and he partially held is arms out, wanting Katara to enter them. She pressed her lips together and shook her head before simply sitting beside him.
"What?" He asked, stunned and confused by her actions. Just as he began to put his arm around her, she moved away from him. "What the hell, Katara?" She huffed and tangled her fingers into her hair at his words.
"I'm just confused right now, Zuko."
"You weren't confused when we were in the shower!" He shouted, extending his arm out into the direction of the bathroom.
"Don't yell at me!" She whined, wrinkling her nose at him. He sighed and dropped his arm.
"What are you so suddenly confused about?" He asked in an obviously annoyed tone, tilting his head to the side. She bit her lip and shook her head. "Katara," He said softly, remembering his promise to not yell at her as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Talk to me."
She took in a deep breath and slammed her eyes shut. "I just," She breathed out, letting her hands fall from her hair and down into her lap. "You're the Fire Prince, Zuko." She stated, turning to look at him. "You've chased Sokka, Aang and I all over the place. You've caused me so much trouble and headache. I shouldn't feel the way I feel towards you. We've been on this ship, what? Four or five days?" She paused and looked at him, waiting for a response. Instead, he sat in silence and waited for her to continue, knowing there was more she wanted to say. She huffed and looked away from him, placing a hand on her upper arm. "All of these feelings are just crashing onto to me and coming over me so quickly. I don't understand it...and what if they only last while we're on the ship? What if it's just some kind of coping mechanism? What if I'm using you and I don't even know it?" She finished, slowly turning to look back at him.
"I get what you're saying. It's kind of scary how fast I started to like you. I thought you were going to be a total brat. I thought you were going to always be badmouthing me, constantly try to bring me down." He paused and glanced down before continuing. "But you're really sweet, Katara." She blushed and look down. "I'm trying really hard not to get all messed up again, and you help me a lot, even though I don't even think you know it," He paused, wrapping his fingers around her arm. "You're the only one who will ever truly understand what I'm going through here. I'm probably going to need you around for a long time."
Katara smiled and allowed him to pull her into his arms. She sighed before leaning forward, away from Zuko. "It just doesn't feel right." She breathed out, looking away from him.
"Would it help if I told you why I was so crazy about capturing the avatar?" He asked, leaning over to look at her. She turned towards him and nodded. Zuko bit his lip and hesitated before finally starting. "When I was thirteen, I was busy desperately trying to learn everything I could about the Fire Nation and how to rule it. It had been about two years since my mother left and I had done a lot of recovering with my uncle, so I was also trying to prove to my father that wasn't weak anymore. They were having a war council and I invited myself in, disregarding my uncles warning of how boring they could be. He had also told me to hold my tongue, but when I found out that they were planning on sending a bunch of new recruits out as bait for the Earth Kingdom Army, I spoke out against the plan, saying that those men loved their country and were fighting for it, and that we shouldn't betray and use them like that. I had spoken out against an old Generals plans, so when I was told I would have to be in an Agni Kai duel, I expected it was the old man I would be dueling, but because I had spoken out in the Fire Lords war room, it was taken as insult to the Fire Lord instead of the General I had spoken against. I had agreed quickly, unaware that I would have to-"
"Fight your own father," She interrupted, piecing the story together herself.
"Yeah, and I didn't want to fight him! So I literally begged him to forgive me, telling him I meant no disrespect, and that I had only been looking out for the well-being of the Fire Nation troops, that I was loyal. He told me that I would fight for my honor and that I'd learn respect, and suffering would be my teacher. Later, he told me that I had shown an act of great weakness and that in order to restore my honor, I'd have to find the avatar. He banished me, and that was my only ticket home."
"That's how you got your scar, isn't? Your father did that to you." She said softly, gently giving his shoulder a squeeze as she snuggled close into him, resting her cheek on his shoulder. "I've been so wrong about you, Zuko. I'm so sorry." He tightened his arms around her and rested his cheek on the nape of her neck. "You're a more honorable man than your father will ever hope to be, Zuko." Closing his eyes, he hoped sleep would come over him.
A/N: Sorry for the wait. Please tell me what you think! Was it worth it? I've already gotten a part of the next chapter written, so hopefully that will help keep the writers block at bay...