A warning to the people,
The good and the evil,
This is war
-This is War, Thirty Seconds to Mars
Zuko ducked a Fire Bender's armored, flaming fist for what felt like, and what probably was, the hundredth time. He stood back to back with Katara in the center of the battle, dodging then punching, kicking and lunging with his Dao blades. He had expected Katara to use her bending, but instead she produced a seemingly endless supply of sharp, flat knives from inside her sleeves. She threw with deadly accuracy, and all the hidden spots she shoved the knives into made Zuko wonder how she wasn't shredded to ribbons under her clothes.
Battle raged all around them, whirling and spinning like a tempest. Romjak was levelling Fire Nation soldiers with a two-handed battle axe, cutting them down two at a time. His cousin Moswren was lobbying rocks into the oncoming forces, and they weren't little rocks. Zuko couldn't see his Uncle, but he suspected he was guarding the children. A sudden worry for Kaya flashed across his mind, but he pushed it back. Now was not the time. He narrowly avoided a wayward fist aimed at Chi Lin and thrust his sword through the midsection of the soldier in front of him. The man went down, leaving bloody streaks on Zuko's sword.
He whirled, not able to see Katara. The fight was winding down; the Fire Nation hadn't expected this much resistance and skill. Zuko traded blows with an armored, masked soldier, all the while glancing frantically trying to locate Katara. He grunted as a well-aimed elbow met his cheekbone and he staggered backwards a few steps. Looking up, his eyes caught on a scrap of blue from behind the soldier, disappearing into the woods pursued by a massive red figure.
"Katara!" Zuko roared, starting to go after her but the soldier in front of him struck a firey arc across his path. With a snarl, Zuko lobbed his arm off with a quick sweeping blow. The soldier went down with a scream and Zuko leapt over his body to pursue Katara's retreating form.
He ran through more and more pockets of quiet until most of the diminished fighting was left behind him. Katara and her pursuer were locked in combat a few dozen paces into the woods, Katara's back to a large boulder. Annoyance flashed through Zuko's mind that she hadn't alerted him to her change of location and wondered what in the spirit's name she would be doing out here anyway.
Katara lashed out with her knives, striking at her opponent's weak spots. The soldier grunted and dodged, throwing fireballs back at her but missing. Zuko heard, to his horror, a small squeaking scream from behind Katara and glimpsed Kaya's terrified face. She must have snuck away to watch the battle and been attacked: a two inch gash on her forehead bled sluggishly. Katara snarled at the sound of her daughter's whimper and attacked more ferociously, leaping forward to come body-to-body with the soldier.
Zuko sped up, knowing her mistake. She was too light, too much smaller than her opponent. He would have a massive advantage. She seemed to realize this as her opponent bodily slammed her back, her eyes widening for just a moment before her head cracked on the massive stone behind her. She slumped to the ground, eyes closing.
"Katara!" Zuko's cries joined Kaya's as he reached her, standing over her mother. The attacking Fire Bender advanced.
"Don't hurt her!" Zuko turned as Kaya yelled, intending to hold her back, protect her, when the child let loose a stream of ice blue lightning straight into her attacker's heart. The man fizzled with sparks as he collapsed backwards, his armor sizzling. Zuko couldn't move. Lighting…too advanced for someone Kaya's age. He turned to look at her again, and took a step back at the sight of her eyes. The golden yellow was gone, eradicated, replaced instead by an all-encompassing blue that glowed from her sockets. Sliding into an Earth Bender crouch, Kaya raised her fist and stomped, bringing the earth up to swallow the Fire Bender's body. The glow faded as she returned to a normal stance, and she looked up at Zuko with tears in her eyes.
"Please don't tell." The tears fell as she spoke, running down her face in rivulets to soak the earth beneath her. "Please."
"I won't." Zuko squatted down to face Kaya – Avatar Kaya. His head felt like Moswren was pounding it with his hammer. "We'll talk about it later, okay?"
Kaya nodded mournfully and ran into his arms, knocking him back onto his heels in surprise and hugging him fiercely. Zuko sat frozen for a moment before he patted her back in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.
"Let me check on your mom." He said after a few moments, peeling the child Avatar off of himself. Kaya nodded but grabbed onto his hand.
Zuko walked the few paces over to where Katara lay motionless. There was a wound on the back of her skull that bled into her hair, soaking it and turning it to a rust-colored matt.
"Do you have any water?" he asked Kaya. She nodded, producing a water skin that sloshed with movement. He poured a little into his hand and used it to sluice away the blood around the wound. It didn't look deep, but he had never been good at judging that sort of thing. He poured more water carefully around it.
"Zuko, Let me." It was all voices in that spoke. The hair standing up on the back of his neck, Zuko turned to face Kaya and the child's eyes were again glowing with the connection to her past lives. Bending the water from the skin, she brought it to her hands where it glowed an iridescent blue turquoise. Zuko scrambled out of the way as Avatar Kaya bent forward to heal the crack in her mother's skull, then turn to him. "It was worse than you thought. She showed me how to do it once, a long time ago."
The voice that spoke distinctly a…he recognized it. "Avatar? I mean…Aang?"
Kaya's face smiled slightly before the glow faded out, leaving just Kaya. She stumbled slightly, and looked up at Zuko with wide questioning eyes. He just stared at her in response. She blinked slowly, and he thought she looked like she was about to fall asleep. There had been a lot of energy rushing through her…
Katara moaned slightly beside them, still unconscious. Zuko nudged her gently, and when she didn't stir he lifted her in his arms and began to walk back to camp. When Kaya didn't follow, he looked back to see her still swaying on her feet, looking after him dazedly. With a resigned sigh, Zuko walked back and knelt down so Kaya could hop on his back. She looped her arms around his neck gently and laid her head on his shoulder. He stood with a grunt. They weren't as heavy as they should have been, but they definitely weren't iguana parrots.
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"Nephew!" Iroh ran towards the emerging figure of his nephew. The boy looked alright, a few minor scrapes and one long, shallow, jagged cut on his jaw. Iroh hadn't been able to find Zuko when the fighting had come to a stop. Romjak and his people had defeated all the soldiers and were busy gathering up the wounded and taking them to the center of camp where the bonfire would be built in the evening. "Nephew! Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Uncle." Zuko said. To Iroh he sounded tired, but he also supposed he could be being strangled by the small child on his back. Zuko shifted the unconscious girl in his arms. "Katara hit her head."
"We should take Chizu," Iroh said, emphasizing her assumed name. "to the middle of camp. They are taking care of the wounded there."
"Thanks, Uncle." Zuko said, and began to walk that way.
"Hold on, Lee." Iroh chuckled, walking quickly to keep up. "It seems you have a hog-monkey on your back."
"I'm not a hog monkey!" Came the engraged squeal. Iroh could hear the exhaustion in the small voice.
"So you are not! Why don't you come with me and we will get you something to eat?" Iroh pried Kaya's arms from around Zuko's neck and lifted her off his back into his own arms.
"Okay." The girl sighed, relaxing in Iroh's hold.
"You should eat too, nephew." Iroh told Zuko's back as the younger man walked away.
"I will, Uncle."
Iroh watched his nephew carry the woman towards the center of camp. He had recognized the young lady as well and was delighted at the response she had to Zuko. Instead of the animosity he had expected, she had seemed open to forgiveness and Zuko had responded well. He wondered how long his nephew would be content 'playing house' in the village: it was not in his destiny to live like this forever. Perhaps some meddling was necessary…
"As long as it's not sea prunes." He looked down to see the waterbender's daughter looking up at him.
"What was that, my dear?"
"As long as what we're eating isn't sea prunes it's fine." Kaya repeated, glaring at him suspiciously. "I know you like them."
Iroh smiled at her. "Let us see what we can find."
Kaya nodded once. "Do you like fireflakes?"
"Of course! They are one of my favorite snacks."
"Mine too!"
"I think we are going to be great friends."
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Zuko felt torn. Half of him knew that any death was a tragedy of war, and should be treated as such. But the rest of him was elated at the rush of battle, the smooth dance of death that his sword wielded. His blood sang in his veins, pumping sweet adrenal euphoria through his entire self. The feeling of doing something important, something he was good at, using his skills…nothing beat that.
"Put me down." Katara's voice was gravelly and slightly slurred, her eyes halfway open.
"You hit your head." Zuko said, his own voice gravelly enough to match hers.
"Nuh uh."
"Yuh huh." Zuko glared down at her, seeing her slight frown. "I saw it happen."
Recognition flashed in her bleary eyes. "You were there. You saved me."
Zuko started to protest, to tell her Kaya did, but he closed his mouth. She didn't know her daughter was the Avatar. And he did not want to be the one to tell her. "I had help."
She smiled, closing her eyes. "Put me down."
"I will as soon as we get to the doctors."
"I feel fine!"
"You probably have a concussion."
"Are you saying I'm brain damaged?"
"I already thought that."
"Put me down, Zuko."
"Lee."
"I can walk on my own!" She started wriggling in his arms and he gave in, setting her feet on the ground. He kept one arm around her shoulders as she tottered unsteadily forward a step before swaying. He looped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. One arm went to his chest, grasping behind his neck for balance, her thumb reaching up his cheek to brush his ear. Her front pressed against his, her nose lifting to brush his chin. Heat fluttered in his chest as she looked up at him, her cheek pressed against his. They stood for a breath, two, before he put an arm behind her knees and lifted her into his arms again.
"Not very well." He tried to keep the tremble out of his voice. He hadn't had that much contact with another person in…years. He could see in the blush of her cheeks that she hadn't either.
"Shut up." She shot him a poisonous look and crossed her arms as he started walking towards the medical set-up.
Zuko wound his way through the blankets laid out on the ground, each occupied by a wounded body. Some groaned, some cried, some were entirely silent. Zuko could hear birds starting to chirp again and some of the leftover tension vanished. The forest wasn't hiding anymore. Katara stared around with worried eyes, pointing out to him where a bandage could be wrapped tighter, where stitches were still needed. He listened to her absently, noting that she was right every time. She had a sharp eye for people in pain.
Healers roamed between lines of bodies, offering water and food to patients who had already been checked over. At Zuko's approach, several of them came rushing over, relieved to see Katara alive. As they reached to touch her, Zuko felt her cringe into him, away from the oncoming healers. He subtly turned his body so that she faced away from them, as if he was looking for something.
"Where do you want her?" he asked, staring them down, daring them to reach for her.
The man in front, Zuko thought his name was Bao, frowned at him. He looked at Katara's face and his face relaxed. He understood.
"You can set her anywhere. I'm sure Healer Chizu knows what's best for herself." He gave a small bow in her direction. Zuko was confused for half a beat, before he realized who Chizu was.
"I hit my head, Bao." Katara piped up. Zuko set her shakily on her feet, staying close in case she toppled over. "I can't really see that myself."
Bao nodded and gestured her over to a tree stump. She sat, fists balling on her knees. Zuko watched her shrink from the healer's touch but he persevered, being as gentle as he could. He turned to Zuko.
"Was there anything you needed?" He asked. The rest of the healers turned to look at him, eyes curious.
"Erm…" Katara looked at him and smiled. His lips quirked up to return it, almost against his will. "No. Nothing else. I'm fine."
"Well, if there is nothing else, I'm sure Romjak could use your help." The healer had a look on his face that Zuko wasn't sure he liked.
"With what?"
Bao looked him in the eye. "Body relocation."
"We move the bodies," Romjak grunted as he heaved another lifeless armored body into the back of a large wagon. The eelhound tethered to the front of it hissed violently as the wagon rocked. Romjak sent it a look and it calmed down, grumbling slightly in its long throat. Romjak turned back to Zuko. "because it would be very suspicious if Fire Nation patrols kept disappearing in the same area."
"So where do you dump them?" Zuko hauled a body of his own over to the wagon, lifting it up into the bed in one fluid motion. It felt good to use muscles he hadn't in a long time. He felt like he should be wearing his mask.
"All over. Different places. We hope that it's assumed they got off track." Romjak stretched his spine. "I think that's all."
Two wagons were piled high with Fire Nation corpses. Most of the 'volunteers' hopped into the bed of a third wagon; Zuko joined them. Romjak sat at the front of the first wagon, Chi Lin took the second, and a third unknown person clicked his tongue at the eelhound of Zuko's wagon. It lurched forward, hissing. The wagons creaked and rattled as they moved out, swaying their passengers from side to side. Zuko lurched back and forth with the others, wondering what Katara was doing.
They drove for almost three hours into the surrounding woods, coming out on the other side. Zuko was the first to jump down from the wagon, landing squarely on his feet. He noticed Romjak eyeing him and turned away. He didn't know what Romjak thought about him, and was hesitant to find out.
"I find it's easiest," Chi Lin stood next to him, holding up a body. Zuko eyed him. The man was lean and wiry, built like a striking snake. His hair was dark against his paler skin, eyes a muddy mix of gold and brown. "to stand them up," he demonstrated, putting the body on its limp feet. "and let them fall at different angles." He let the corpse drop, and it slumped backwards, limbs sprawling to its sides at odd angles. "Looks more natural that way." He looked at Zuko with a straight face. He seemed humorless to Zuko, a man who was always serious.
"Thanks." Zuko nodded at him. Chi Lin nodded back and left to get another body. Zuko lifted a body down from the wagon and sagged under the weight. It was a big body, one of the giant Fire Benders who had been cut down by Romjak. He half-dragged the body a few feet from the one Chi Lin had dropped and stood the massive body on its feet. He let it fall sideways, and it fell with one arm on its chest. All around him people employed mostly the same method, resulting in a hodgepodge of fallen bodies. To Zuko it looked fine on the surface, but any deep investigation would reveal no blood spatter near the bodies, the wounds wouldn't make sense.
When the last body had been unloaded, Romjak let out an ear-piercing whistle and the men clambered back into the wagons. Zuko ended up next to Chi Lin on the second wagon, sitting next to him as he drove back to the village. Romjak joined the convoy after a moment, having used Earth Bending to erase the wagon tracks.
"I saw you with your swords." Chi Lin said, looking sideways at Zuko. "Your form is perfect."
"Yours as well." Zuko returned, looking straight ahead.
"We could use more people like you." Chi Lin said, twitching the reins. "People who know what they are doing, and care enough about others to watch after them."
Zuko turned to him. The man was looking at him, eyes unreadable. "Your people are brave. I'm sure you would be able to teach them."
"I do not have the patience." Chi Lin turned away. "I am not a people person. But you," he poked a finger into Zuko's shoulder. "I have seen how Chizu trusts you, and her daughter. How people feel comfortable around you, even though you do not seek them out. Moswren speaks highly of you and your dedication to a job you did not choose for yourself."
"There are many things in my life I didn't choose." Zuko said, running a hand over his scar.
"But you persevere, and make them your own." Chi Lin replied. "You are adaptable. That is valuable for an instructor."
"I've never taught anyone anything." Zuko growled. He didn't want to be responsible for these people.
"There is an old saying in my village." Chi Lin said, again eyeing him sideways. 'Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.'"
Zuko nodded. "My Uncle is also fond of saying that." He sighed. "He says that even those who are born into positions of power aren't always destined to be great, that sometimes it is the people who have the least desire to lead that make the best leaders."
Chi Lin nodded. "That is something I too believe. 'It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves.' I take that to mean, that if there is a need for greatness, the person who is right for it will change his own destiny in order to fill that need."
Zuko looked over at him, but Chi Lin had rested his head on the back of the wagon's seat and closed his eyes, laying the reins on the seat beside him. Zuko picked them up, holding them in his hands as the wagon swayed back and forth.
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It was dark by the time the wagons rolled into the village. The men dispersed, calling soft goodnights to each other as they made their way back to their homes and families. The bonfire was a pile of softly glowing embers in the middle of the circle of ironwoods. Firebugs sparked in the darkness between the trees, briefly illuminating plants and leaves.
Zuko could hear his Uncle's loud snoring and sighed. Hopefully the walls of his own tent would keep some of the din out. He slipped across the empty clearing and into his own tent. He stretched, feeling the soreness in his muscles and each abrasion on his body.
He whipped around as a small rustle came from his sleeping back. He had a sword in his hand in seconds before he recognized the sleeping figure, her dark hair tumbling across his sleeping mat. He relaxed, sheathing his sword. He didn't want to wake her. Maybe his Uncle had a spare sleeping bag in his tent. He cringed at the thought. After seven long years, he had hoped he could tune out his Uncle's noise. But it was impossible.
He had one hand on the flap when Katara stirred, sitting up in his sleeping bag.
"I always felt safe with you."
He paused, turning around.
"What?"
Katara took a deep breath and pushed her hair out of her face. "I'm sorry, your tent was closer." She gave him a crooked half smile. "It was a long day."
"Yeah." He crouched in front of her. "What did you mean?"
She looked down at her hands, twisting the edge of his sleeping bag. "I mean, even when you were chasing us across the world, and tied me to a tree, and stole my necklace, I knew," she looked up into his eyes, her own glinting in the moonlight. "I knew that you wouldn't really hurt us. Not really. You would never kill me, or Aang." She snorted. "Maybe Sokka if you knew him." Her face turned serious again. "I never feared you, Zuko. I hated you; for a long time, especially after Ba Sing Se. But…I don't hate you anymore."
"I never hated you." Zuko breathed. "I did fear you."
Katara smiled, a full smile, showing her teeth. "Really?"
Zuko rolled his eyes. "Don't let it go to your head."
"Too late." Katara wiggled down into his sleeping bag. The sight made the muscles in Zuko's lower body clench. "Zuko?"
"Hmmm?" Zuko replied, wanting to lie down. His body was starting to ache.
"Will you stay with me?" At his blank look, she flushed. "I…I don't want to be alone. Anymore."
"Okay."
She held the side of the sleeping bag up to him, and he stood to shed his boots and tunic. Katara's eyes followed the lines of his muscles, traced the scars on his chest, watched as his arm muscles coiled and bunched beneath his skin. He was a powerful bender, capable of so much. He slid down into the warm comfort of the sleeping bag, facing her on his side, trying to be careful not to bump into her.
She lay with her hand under her head, the other on his pillow. He rested his head on his folded elbow, looking over at her tranquil face. She gazed back at him, eyes drinking in his face. A firebug lit suddenly between them, causing them both to jump. Katara laughed and Zuko couldn't help smiling in reply. Zuko lifted his hand to shoo the bug away and instead of retracting it, he lowered his rough, callused palm to her cheek, tracing the scar from her temple to the top of her lip. She closed her eyes at his touch, but instead of moving away pressed her face into his palm. His thumb brushed across her lower lip and his breath caught. So soft. Different from his. Distinctly female.
Her knee twitched, as if uncertain, before inching forward to entangle with his. His ankle caught around hers and held, binding them together. Zuko let his hand rest above her head, cradling her hair.
"I know you, Zuko." Her words were barely more than a whisper. "I trust you because…I've seen you at your worst and I know that it wasn't you. Anyone else, I don't…don't know what they want." She closed her eyes, nuzzling her head against his hand. He awkwardly stroked her hair, unsure if he should speak. "What they want from me. But you," She looked up at him. "I look in your eyes and see only you, Zuko."
"I don't know what that means." His voice was pitched low, hoarse.
"I don't either." She whispered back, inching herself closer. "But I like it."
He smiled. She closed her eyes and let her hand drift over until she traced his scar; a mirror action of his. He fell asleep to the feel of her hand on his face, the smell of her hair, and the soft press of her legs against his.
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The smell of roasting meat dragged him reluctantly from sleep just before dawn. He was warm. Very warm. Even for him. He tried to roll over, but the press of sleeping bodies on either side halted him. His heart skipped a beat as he looked down in the dim morning light to see Katara, her back pressed to his front, long waves of hair spread forward tumbling across his pillow. His arm lay on her waist, fingers trailing along her thigh. Her ankles were still intertwined with his, locking them close. He lay his head back down, aware that his other arm was numb under his head. She stirred against him, pressing backwards into him. He tightened his arm, tugging her closer. He didn't want the night to end. Not yet.
From his other side came a small, slight snore. He lifted his head enough to look over his shoulder. Kaya lay with her back to him, limbs jutting out at strange angles, wrapped up in a separate blanket all her own. Her small mouth lay open, lost in the total abandon of a child's sleep. He snorted quietly. No wonder he was over-warm. Kaya muttered in her sleep, kicking his leg just a little bit.
Zuko gently extricated himself from the sleeping bag, rolling Kaya over so she slept against her mother. She didn't so much as crack an eyelid. Katara's face creased softly in a frown as the cold air settled against her back, but she didn't wake. Zuko pulled the folds of the sleeping bag up until they were both covered to the shoulder.
Wood smoke drifted across the empty clearing, permeated with sunbeams from the dawning day. Romjak sat at the bonfire, roasting a hunk of meat over the sputtering embers. He looked up as Zuko emerged, a wry smile crossing his face. He gestured for Zuko to come closer.
"I hope you like pheasant squirrel," he said in a low voice. "Prince Zuko, of the Fire Nation."
***Author's Note***
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed my story! I love you all ^_^ I really appreciate that you took the time and I hope you continue to do so!
Both of the quotes used in this chapter (that Chi Lin said) are from Mister William Shakespeare.