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Chapter 9-Hot and Cold

Zuko P.O.V

"What do you mean, all the prisoners escaped?!"

"T-They tricked us sir. They g-got over the fence."

You know my father is mad when he grinds his teeth together. His face was almost as red as my scar, and that was saying something. The guard looked absolutely petrified as my father stood up out of his chair. "All of them escaped?" He asked, gripping his fists together tightly. I looked back at the guard, silently praying he would say that Katara was one of the many who got away.

"All but one sir. T-The watertribe peasant. The others are fighting her right now."

"Where are they?"

"At the wall, my lord."

Determination crossed his face.

"Take me there."

I bit my lip hard, cursing the spirits silently. Of course, it had to be Katara who didn't get away. Let me guess; she stayed so everyone else could go. As I hesitantly followed Azula into the hallway, I couldn't help but admire Katara for it. Time for admiring would have to take place later. Right now I had to worry about how my father was planning to deal with her. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good.

Not one bit.

"This is the most excitement I've had since your banishment!"

Azula seemed happy and anxious to see Katara. I shot her my darkness glare, which only caused her to laugh. I shouldn't say laugh…Azula doesn't laugh, she cackles. Turning away from my little sister, I just happened to notice the picture hanging in one of the servant rooms. I only caught a glimpse of it since the rest of my family was eager to see some blood, but I could still make out the face in the picture. It was my mother.

Surely things would be different if she was here. First of all, I probably would not have this horrific scar on the side of my face. Second of all, Katara would not be in this situation if my mother had not disappeared. Sometimes I was angry at her for leaving me alone with these…monsters. It was her own fault I ended up like this!

Deep down, I did not feel this way.

I was just angry.

Big surprise, huh?

The hot sun hit my face as we stepped outside the palace. It was the first time it had been sunny in a while. Usually it would be rainy and gloomy, just like the personalities here. One would think that if it was sunny, it would be a good day. It was not a good day at all. Not for Katara at least…I think that was what worried me the most.

I saw Katara.

She had just head butted some guy and pushed him to the ground. He was the last guard standing; the rest were lying in piles scattered all over the area. Half the town was gathered outside their houses, looking horrified by the scene. Katara was a mess, but she was still standing, even though I could see her legs shaking from yards away. I could make out her Fire Nation outfit tears, along with her smeared makeup and messy hair. Somehow through all of this, she still managed to look beau-I mean…nice.

My heart pounded quicker as we got closer and closer to Katara. Hers must have been going faster too, because I saw her take a deep breath when she spotted us. Katara must know…surely she must know…the punishment would not be light. All the torture she had been through; it was only just the beginning. Once when I was a little boy, I stumbled upon a book of over a hundred ways to torture someone. I couldn't sleep for a week, in fear of having nightmares about getting my eyeballs poked with a burning stick.

Father stopped a short distance away from Katara, who had her chest out and head held high. Honorable, but I'm afraid honor wasn't going to get her anywhere. I've had my experience with that. The look on Ozai's face was pretty terrifying; besides his ugliness, his face was beat red, his chin was shaking madly, and a piece of his hair was hanging on his eye.

"You thought you were so clever, didn't you wench?"

Katara didn't seem shaken by this insult.

"Kind of, yeah. You don't feel clever, do you? Your own guards being outsmarted by a stupid water bender? If I were you, I'd feel pretty ridiculous right now."

My father gritted his teeth even tighter, and I felt my heart skip a few beats. I had an awful feeling that I knew what was coming. Motioning to his fallen guards, who were now helping each other up, he hissed those words I had heard before. Just in a different situation.

"Fight me then peasant. If you're so confident in your abilities."

Not bearing to look at the ground anymore, I peered up at Katara. She glanced at me for a second, the fear only visible in her eyes for a split second. Looking back at my father, I saw her nod. "Alright big shot. Let's see what you got." Katara said, getting in her defense stance. How could she be so calm at a time like this?! I screamed in my head. Did she honestly think she could win against him?!

Now that I was only feet away from the water bender, I noticed how fragile she really was. I could practically see her muscles disintegrating into the air every time she moved. Her foot was burnt badly; the blisters were already starting to boil in the hot sun. How could I just stand here and watch this poor girl suffer? She wasn't just a girl…she was a friend. Can't believe I'm admitting it, but I do count Katara as one of my only friends. One of my…prettier friends. Could I find the courage to stand up and stop my father from killing her?

Not thinking about what I was about to do, I stepped forward.

But it was too late.

My father fired the first shot, sending a ring of fire balls towards Katara. I don't know where the water came from, but somehow, she pulled up a huge field of it to shield herself. The fire nearly went through, but she held on for dear life. I was no longer watching my father; my eyes and heart were set on Katara. Every move she took, I sucked in a deep breath. Please, please let her win.

"You are no match for me little girl."

Pure hatred and anger was spit out in the form of a fire from my father's mouth. Katara looked horrified for a moment, but again somehow managed to shield her body. A small portion of it hit her right hand however, and she stumbled backwards towards the broken wall in pain. I wanted so badly to start cheering for her, but I knew if I even mumbled one word, I would be next. Not that I really cared; honestly, I'm already in hell. What more could he do to me? He had taken everything that was important to me and crushed it.

Even my chess set! Literally!

It was in this moment that I realized how terrible fire really was. Seeing the burn on Katara, and feeling the burn on my face…it made something stir deep inside me. Fear.

"Katara look out!"

It slipped out and I mentally kicked myself for it. The remaining guards that had stood up ran to me and held me back, covering my mouth with a cloth. Azula snickered and motioned for one of the guards to kick me, which they did. I fell onto my knees, but ignored the pain in my gut. Katara was sending water whips at my father desperately. She was getting nowhere, but I hoped to Ursa she did not give up. Katara needs to take her own advice right now and have hope.

Sadly, I could see the hope fading from her crystal eyes.

Ozai was ferociously shooting fire ball after fire ball at Katara. They were starting to hit their target now, Katara's water shields getting weaker. Her feet were losing their grip, where as my father's seemed to be getting better. After blocking the sparks from Ozai's last fire ball, Katara summoned a large water ball, sending towards my father with such power that I was sure it would hit him. However, my father had also sent his own fire ball and was sending it right in the path of Katara's water.

They collided, creating a mass explosion.

Everyone was sent flying backwards, Katara smashing into the debris of the wall, Ozai and the rest of us thrown back into the dirt. Something had landed on me and cut my leg open, but again, I ignored the pain and sat up, searching for Katara threw the dust. There was a terrible ringing noise echoing through my ears. My head was spinning, but finally I managed to locate Katara lying under the red bricks of the wall she had broken down. As soon as I took my first step, someone grabbed me, sending me back to the hard ground. Turning my head to see who tripped me, I looked into the face of my sister. Even though she was dirty and injured, she still held that evil smirk on her pale face.

"Katara, get up!"

I yelled frantically at her to stand up. Glancing back at my father, I saw that he had already stood up and was heading towards Katara. "Katara!" I screamed, trying to kick Azula's face. I ended her snickering by slamming into her cheek with my boot. Her hand let go of my ankle and I stumbled forward, determined to help my friend. I think my father knew what I was going to do before I did.

I just barely had time to duck before a fire ball was sent my way.

Again, I was back on the ground.

"You're pathetic Zuko. Just like your foolish mother and uncle."

His glare tore my soul wide open. Turning away from me, he preceded to go to Katara's limp body. She peered up at him, knowing she was defeated. I could almost feel the disappointment flow through her veins. Closing my eyes, I prepared myself for the worst.

"Guards, take our little bender to The Pocket."

Before I could pass out from shock, I was knocked out by a heavy object.

Katara P.O.V

Well, this didn't really work.

In the plays I've seen, the heroes never got caught! I guess reality isn't like that, huh? No happy endings.

"Can I ask a question?"

The guard didn't answer and instead continued to drag me.

"What is "The Pocket"?"

The guards smirked at each other and stopped dragging me. There was two doors in front of us: one had a light on and appeared to be well lit, while the other had a dim light. I curiously looked up at their covered faces, "Which one will we be adventuring to?" I asked, trying to lighten the tension for my own good. The thicker one peered down at me, and I have to say, I did not like the look on his face.

"Welcome to The Pocket."

They threw me inside, and I quickly found out that it wasn't very big. My head cracked against the concrete wall, making everything seem blacker than it already was. The only source of light I had was the small lantern on the ceiling. I heard the men follow me in there, shutting the door behind them.

Do you remember when you were a little kid and you were scared of the dark? This was like that. You squeeze your eyes shut tightly because you think it will keep you from seeing things you don't want to see, or things you don't want to be real.

Even though I couldn't see their faces, I had a pretty good idea of what kind of looks they had on their faces.

One of them snickered, and then I heard the sound of pants being pulled down.

Zuko P.O.V

The bright light hurt my eyes.

How long had I been out? Hours? Days? I asked myself as I sat up, trying to see where I was. It was cold, like a ice house. The floor was hard and I was pretty sure I was sitting in a pile of dry blood. Was it mine?

A loud booming noise was echoing through the-well, where ever I was. Boots trumped closer and closer to me, until they stopped right in front of me. "Time to go your highness." A dark voice growled sarcastically. I gave him my best glare, but it was useless anyway, since neither of us could probably see anything. Before I could even try to stand up, I was grabbed the collar of my shirt and yanked up onto my feet.

My leg still hurt, the pain now the only thing I could focus on right now.

A thought popped into my head when I saw light at the end of the hallway. Katara. Where was she?! What had happened to her?! The last thing I remembered hearing was…The Pocket. My heart dropped when I remembered this information. I opened my mouth, but found my throat dry. Nothing came out. Since I wasn't able to defend myself orally (hahahaha) , I started to kick and thrust my body towards the man holding me.

It was useless.

"Hold your butt little man, we're almost there."

I swallowed as much spit as I could and spoke.

"Where?"

His smile was visible as we got towards the most lighted part of the hallway.

"Here."

I was thrown into a light room, landing on something soft. I shook my head and tried to focus on the object I had just landed on. It appeared to be a pile of Fire Nation clothes, bloodied and tattered. Why in the hell would they…

Squinting my eyes, I realized it wasn't just a pile of clothes. It was Katara.

"K-Katara?"

Her eyes shot open, but they weren't the kind, calm blue eyes I had known before. Instead, they were blood-shot, crazy and clueless. As she banged her head against the floor, she mumbled something that I had trouble making out.

"Hot or cold, can't be one, you have to choose…two is not better than one, must decide. Hot burns it up, then water cools it down!"

Katara then cackled, reminded me of Azula.