Zuko's POV
Two days after the letter arrived, Arianna and Zuko left to go to the Northern Water Tribe. A few weeks later they arrived. In those few weeks, Arianna went into a semi-depressed state and Zuko hated seeing her like that. He did everything he could to cheer up, but nothing seemed to work. The whole time she wore white, the color of mourning in the Fire Nation.
When they arrived, they were greeted by Chief Arnook.
He bowed. "Your Majesty, your Grace."
"Hello Uncle Arnook," Arianna said, sadness filling her voice.
Chief Arnook gave Arianna a hug. "I'm sorry for your loss; you know I saw him as a brother."
"How did he….?" Arianna couldn't bring herself to finish.
"I don't know, he hand no wounds on him, so he wasn't stabbed or anything. Poison is a possibility or it was just his time to go," Chief Arnook answered.
"But he was so healthy, strong and he still had a lot of life in him," Arianna said.
"Sometimes these things just happen," Chief Arnook replied.
"Arianna?" came a familiar voice.
Both Arianna and Zuko turned their heads; approaching them was Hahn.
"Hello Hahn," Arianna greeted. He was one of the last people she wanted to see at the moment, but she wasn't going to be rude.
"I'm sorry about what happened to your father," Hahn responded. There was a slight tone in his voice that Zuko didn't like.
"How have you been?" Arianna asked.
"Fine, just fine," Hahn answered.
"That's good. Are you engaged to anybody?" Arianna questioned.
"No, not yet," Hahn said.
"Well, I wish you the best of luck, but there are things I need to take care of," Arianna replied.
"Of course. See you around?" Hahn responded.
"Perhaps," Arianna said.
Chief Arnook led them off and once Arianna and Zuko were alone in her old house, Zuko expressed his concern.
"There's something about him and I don't like it," Zuko said.
"What do you mean?" Arianna asked.
"Something about him seems off, like he's trying to hide something," Zuko answered.
"I'm sure you're just over-reacting," Arianna replied.
"I don't think so," Zuko responded.
Over the next two or three weeks, Arianna and Zuko got things worked out and the things in her old house sorted. Sometimes they would find something of her mother's or father's and she would start crying uncontrollably; Zuko did his best to comfort her, but, to him, it never seemed to be enough.
The whole entire length of their trip, Zuko kept his eye on Hahn, just something about him rubbed Zuko the wrong way, but he couldn't pinpoint it. Zuko noticed that Hahn was always careful about what he said, especially toward Zuko and Arianna, and Zuko didn't like that so much.
Finally everything was sorted out and taken care of and by the time they were finished, both Arianna and Zuko were ready to go back to the Fire Nation.
The night before they left there was a large dinner, hosted by Chief Arnook, and all the nobility, including Hahn, were invited. Arianna was beginning to feel uneasy around him as well. All throughout the dinner Hahn kept trying to get close to Arianna, but neither she nor Zuko were having it.
"Now do you see what I mean?" Zuko whispered in Arianna's ear.
"Yes, something is seriously wrong with him," she replied.
Zuko never left Arianna's side at the dinner. After the dinner was over, Arianna and Zuko returned to the ship and he gave her a nice, long, well-needed, all over massage and she absolutely loved it.
"Thank you so much. I love you," Arianna said.
"You're welcome and I love you too," Zuko responded.
Arianna snuggled as close as she could to Zuko. "I miss him."
"I know you do, but I'll always be here for you, no matter what," Zuko replied.
A/N: Thank you all so much for reading this story, and I hope you all are enjoying it.
Ayatsukimi: I guess you'll just have to continue to read to figure out if Hahn was responsible for the death of Arianna's father. Thanks for the review.
Until next time!
~Forest Princess