AN: I do NOT own Avatar the Last Airbender.

Part 2

Chapter 13

Katara's POV

"Yori, stop messing with my hair! I don't think that I need to be overdressed for this, and I think that you are going to end up pulling out all of my hair before I can ever have kids!"

A split second after I said those words, she had whipped her head from where she was concentrated on one strand and gave me an apologetic smile.

"I am sorry Katara, but you are getting married soon, you have to impress your soon-to-be husband with all of your looks and charm. Remember he can break of this marriage in a quick second, making this entire treaty for peace disband, and soon the universe would explode all because you didn't have makeup on."

I rolled my eyes at her huge exaggeration, "Yeah right. If he is going to dump me for some dumb, illegitimate reason, he's got another thing coming."

Yori looked into my eyes through the mirror and gave me a quick squeeze around the shoulders, "That's my girl, now come on. You have to go meet your man."

"Yeah… My man…"

She helped me get up out of the chair I had to sit in, and we headed down the long corridors of the East Wing. I felt like I had twenty pounds of crap on my face and was wearing a dress that weighed two tons.

"Don't slouch! You will look like a pack mule if you don't lift up your shoulders and make sure your head is poised correctly. Remember you are a princess!"

I continued to hear that witch of a tutor in my head, her disgusting voice, laughing at me, and her giant mole growing bigger and bigger by the second. I shivered at the thought of that hairy thing, staring at me through all of the lessons, mocking me.

"My lady, are you quite all right? Do you require a coat or a wrap for your chill?" Yori said in her "proper Lady in Waiting" voice.

Shaking my head vigorously, I said, giving her a hinting look, "No! That is quite all-right Yori. In fact, I was just thinking. Do not go through the trouble of getting me something so trivial as another piece of clothing to wear. La knows that I am about to fall with all of this "beautiful" fabric on me."

Grasping what I said, Yori gave me a wink and said, "Yes, your highness. I understand completely."

Releasing a silent breath of anxiety, I went back to trying to find the room. It was quiet for the next ten minutes. I didn't want Yori to be scolded or frowned upon for talking to me in such a familiar way that a servant had no right.

Glancing around at all of the tapestries, I noticed a beautiful mural that was painted along one of the walls. There was a powder blue sky that sailed all the way to the spirit world, with what looked like the top of a mountain, peaking about one-third of the way into the sky. The clouds were adorned all around the mountain and in the sky, looking as though the whole thing was real, like as if it was actually flowing through the air. What really caught my eye though was what was in the sky…

Reaching from the left end of the hallway, there was a blue dragon that stretched to the middle meeting at the mountain's peak. The blue scales shimmered and danced with the light coming from the sconces overhead. Then looking back from the right end of the hallway, there was a red dragon that seemingly reflected the blue dragon as well. However, its red scales did not shimmer, but rather glowed in a fiery way, like candles in a dark room. The two dragons seemed to, I don't know float, like as if they were really flying in the sky. With my hand, I made to touch the blue dragon…

"Ahem… Katara?"

Blushing rather brightly, I held my hands together, and looked to the voice that had startled me. I saw Zuko standing a few meters away from Yori and I on the right side of the hall, looking at me with a rather amused expression.

"Yes, Fire Lord Zuko?"

Walking up to me in a sly manner, he said, "May I ask as to why you were going to touch an ancient artifact coming from my ancestors of thousands of years ago?"

If I didn't know it already, I felt beads of sweat rolling down my face.

"I was just admiring the work and craftsmanship. Well, now I best be off to do some other things. Good evening to you Fire Lord."

"No wait, where are you going?"

Feeling a bit of anger, I whipped my head around and stared into his molten eyes, "That does not concern you, My Lord."

Looking as though he was taken back by my sharp words, he said with an equal amount of anger, "If you are in MY palace, then I have a right to know what you are doing."

"Oh please!" I said with my hands firmly placed on my hips, "Like you could tell me what everyone in the whole palace was doing."

"I can."

I glared at him indignantly, "Oh yeah? Well, where are my father and the tribesmen?"

Smirking, he replied, "They are currently in the dining room, eating what I think your people call ocean cumquats."

"Sea prunes, how did they manage to eat that here, it's only common in the Water Tribes?"

"One of the men aboard your ship brought the prunes, begged for our chef to make it, and taught her how."

"Oh, okay then," feeling a little dejected, "Well, what about Lady Mai? Why is she not with you?"

Looking rather frustrated with my persistence, he said, pinching the bridge of his nose, "She is upstairs in our room, sharpening her stilettos. She told me that she would be down after she is done sharpening all of her knives."

"Oh, and how long will that take?"

"Considering she is very careful with her knives, thinking that the slightest bit of dirt will make her aim off, she had to make sure that they are REALLY clean. Each blade takes about five minutes and she has twenty, making her take about one hour and forty minutes of pure knife cleaning."

Mai's POV

As soon as Zuko had walked right out of the door and down the hall, I threw the stiletto in my hand right at the door. The sharp "twang" it made as it hit the wood was sweet.

"I sure do hope that you don't really mean to kill the Fire Lord, now do you?"

Feeling a sudden chill in my body, I turned around to see Zhong standing a few feet behind me.

"How did you get in here?"

Smirking his devilish trademark smirk, he said, "I have my ways. Now, what's wrong?"

Feeling flustered by his dismissal of my question, I asked with more anger in my voice, "What do you want?"

Sighing and looking down at the floor, "I only wanted to explain myself before you go killing Katara or Zuko."

"Don't mention that slut's name to me!"

"Alright! Alright!" he exclaimed raising his hands, feigning innocent, "Yeesh! I just wanted to say that I am sorry that you had to find out about my engagement like that from Zuko. It's just that when he asked me to, I couldn't say no. He is my best friend, and I had been sleeping with his fiancé for about three years now, feeling guilty because I was stabbing his back. Don't you think he would of thought something was going on if I didn't say 'yes'?"

Lifting my arms to place my hands on my head, I screeched, "I don't know, but still you could of said no."

Taking a few steps up to me, he pressed his palm on my right cheek, and said softly, "I could have said no. Yes, I could have been here, not arguing with you but kissing you senselessly and make love to you. I could have been here with you while your fiancé is out, Agni knows where, and have him never know of our little affair. Then one day, when Zuko finally realizes he loves you more than Ka-, I mean, the Princess, you would have left me forever to have this broken heart, while you get what you have always wanted Zuko's love."

Tears began to sting my eyes, "You have no idea of what you are talking about. I don't want Zuko's love. I only want you, Zhong. I wish that we could run away together, but I can't do that to Zuko, and you know it. You couldn't bear losing your best friend either. I don't want you to risk your life or happiness just for me."

"You ARE my happiness, Mai. Even though you may just about hate everything in the world, I love that about you. Mai, you are my life; I only wish that I was the same to you."

"Why can't you look past your stupidity to see that you are?"

His face was cast in a shadow, "I don't know if I can believe you."

With both of my hands on either side of his face, I pulled him to look directly at me and kissed him with all of the passion and love I could muster.

Pulling away from him, I saw his goofy facial expression and said, "Now do you believe me?"

Shaking himself out of it, he stared at me and said, "I don't know you may have to convince me a little more."

Laughing at his poor attempt of flirting, "Only because I love you so much."

Smiling, he grabbed at my waist, "Good, I love you too."

"Do you have to go anywhere?"

"Dinner, I have to go to dinner with the Princess."

Groaning, I walked away from his hold and crossed my arms.

"I do have time right now for you though. If I didn't have to go, I wouldn't, but unfortunately this is my duty."

Looking back at him, I said, "Well your duty sucks. Please just stay with me for this one time. I could send a servant telling Zuko that I do not feel well, and you could go back to your room and do the same with the slut."

"Sometimes you are too smart for your own good."

"I know, now go to your room, quickly. When you are finished, go to our little hideaway and there will be a special present there for you."

"Is that a promise?"

"Yes, now go."

He grinned widely, and then kissed me to the point where I felt light-headed. I didn't see him leave the room.

"Shit! How does he do that?"

Katara's POV

Zuko is really good at keeping tabs with everyone in the palace, telling me where all the guards, cooks, and servants were at the present time and place.

"How do you know about everyone here?"

Giving me a casual shrug, he said, "I have been keeping up with their personal lives, getting to know each one of them. If they have a problem, then I know about it. I try to help them with they need, and make sure that they are okay. I also happen to trust every single one of these people because all of the ones who only followed my father were given jobs outside of the palace in the case that they try to kill me."

"Hmph! Well, then where is Zhong?"

He gave me a very steely look when I asked, and then asked back with something I couldn't quite identify, "Why would you want to know?"

I raised my eyebrow at him and shot him a look.

With tight lips, he muttered so softly that I couldn't hear.

"What was that?"

He sighed gravely and said, "I don't know."

I danced around, my skirts floating around me, "Ha! I knew it. You didn't know where someone was, and your best friend to boot. Ha yes!"

I didn't notice when two servants came up from behind me and whispered something to Yori; I was too happy.

Yori's POV

I was holding back a huge roll of laughter that wanted to erupt from my lips.

Katara sure does love to outsmart the Fire Lord.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and upon turning around, I saw two young girls standing there. They were both servant girls, I could tell that much, scared too no doubt from the spectacle behind me.

"Yes?"

The taller one of the two stepped forward. She was thin with the blackest of hair and hazel nut eyes, not a bender, but of the Fire Nation ancestry.

"We came with messages from Lady Mai and Nobleman Zhong for Fire Lord Zuko and Princess Katara."

Giving her a warm smile, I said, "If you would not mind relaying the message to me, I will be happy to give it to them when they are finished with their "discussion"."

Nodding, she told me the excuses of both of the quarrelers' betrothed and scurried along with the other girl down the other end of the hall and around the corner.

Turning back around to the other two, I noticed that Katara looked rather indignant, while the Fire Lord was quite smug.

Katara took me by the arm with her nose stuck up high in the air, and forced me to walk with her in the direction we were originally heading in for Nobleman Zhong's dinner with us.

"Come, let us go Yori. I should not want to keep my fiancé waiting, and neither would the Fire Lord."

Clearing my throat, I said rather loudly for both to hear, "Yes, well it would seem that the both of your fiancés are not feeling very well, and asked that the both of you go along without them to dinner."

Katara stopped in mid-step with me, and then turned to look at me dead in the eye, "Well, I suppose that would be fine. I guess we will go find my father and have dinner with him and the men."

The Fire Lord walked over to us quickly and said in haste, "You both could have dinner with me. I would only hope that you would not mind me being the only company to talk to though."

I nudged Katara as hard as I could in the ribs for her to get the clue that I wanted her to go to dinner with him.

"*Cough* Yes, we would love to go to dinner with you."

"Actually," I began, "I am quite tired. If my lady will not mind, I would like to proceed to bed for the night?"

If looks could kill, I would be stabbed, drowned, burned, and then buried by now with the look that Katara was giving me right now.

"Of course not. You need your sleep, maybe I should come with you."

"Oh no I would not want to ruin your night. Enjoy the evening with the Fire Lord. Goodnight, my Lord and Lady!"

The last thing that I heard as I was walking swiftly down the hall, containing my laughter, was, "You know if she was the lady in waiting for anyone else, they would have dismissed her by now?"

"I know… The thought of it has been rather appealing to me lately."