First and foremost, I want to give a shout out to GakuenAliceGRL for being my loyal reviewer. Her reviews are by far the most enthusiastic and I find them very motivational! Seriously, if it wasn't for her, I probably would have given up on this story long ago. Thank you Gakuen!
And now onto the fun stuff!
And for the record, no one guessed right D:
If there was one thing I hated about parties, it was the hangover afterward. Especially when you wake up in a room that you don't even recognize.
I groaned as I rolled over, silently wondering where my pants had disappeared and why they were the only things missing. I sat up in the vast bed I was in. Wait a second. This was Zuko's room! Just as I was about to let out a scream of horror, a hand clamped down on my face.
"First off, don't scream, I had the guards bring you in here before everyone woke. Second, where are your pants?" Zuko's voice met my ears, calming me.
"This couldn't wait until morning because..." I muttered, launching myself off his bed and into his closet, grabbing myself a pair of pants and roughly pulling them on.
"Because I have plans with Katara in an hour!" Zuko snapped.
My eyes narrowed. "What in Agni's name? Zuko! Whose side are you on?"
"Yours! I'm trying to help you, Aang!"
"By stealing her away from me?" I snapped, fire launching at Zuko's head but missing. I really need to work on my aim.
"She was talking about taking Appa and going after Sangok! Aang, would you rather me let her go or give her a reason to stay here?"
I stopped and sucked in a breath. "Fine," I said through gritted teeth. "What is your plan?"
"Keep in mind, Aang that my heart remains with one girl and you saw her yesterday morning," he reminded me before he continued. "I want to court Katara. Grab her interest and give her a reason to doubt her relationship with this Sangok fellow. Then, when Mai and I can finally tell the world about our future plans, you can pick up Katara's fallen pieces."
"This doesn't exactly help with her falling in love with me, Zuko," I snapped, my eyes glowering at him.
He sighed. "Aang, she already is in love with you!"
"Are you two talking about me?"
Oh no.
I turned and smiled at Azula, but my smile quickly turned into a frown. "Azula...why do you have my pants?"
A sly grin crept over her mouth and I gulped. "Oh, do you want them back, Aang? Well come and get them."
I took a step forward and stopped when I saw her tongue flick across her lips. "Zuko..." I pleaded.
He chuckled behind me and stood up. His pants were on, but his bare chest showed through is untied robe. Zuko hated sleeping shirtless. What is Agni's name was going on?
"Azula, give Aang his pants back!" he snapped, his fire whip cracking at her.
"Make me!" she cackled as she ran out the room.
The two of us sprinted after, chasing her down the hall.
"AZULA! GIVE ME BACK MY PANTS!" I hollered and then skidded to a stop. "Oh, good morning Fire Lady Ursa!" I quickly bowed, almost falling over because Zuko had run into me.
She gave us a quizzical brow. "Aang, why does Azula have your pants?"
I shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, Lady Ursa." I bowed again and took off running.
"AZULA!" A new voice boomed.
All three of us dropped to the ground as fire spewed out over our heads. In front of us was Fire Lord Ozai, and boy did he look mad.
"Why on Earth, are you stealing a mans pants when you know that the whole palace has a hang over?" he snapped, snatching my pants and tossing them my direction.
Azula mumbled her apologizes, stood, gave me a wink, and wandered off down the hall. I could hear her talking to someone, but I couldn't make out any of the words.
Zuko and I slowly stood, each of us giving the Fire Lord a sheepish look.
"Aang, meet me in the conference room, you and I have something to discuss, do we not?"
I nodded and the royal couple walked off hand in hand. When they rounded the corner, Zuko and I exchanged looks, bursting into laughter.
Sokka awoke with a throbbing pain in the back of his head. He couldn't remember much, only a flash of green and white faced warriors forcing him into unconsciousness.
He sat up, realizing that he was alone in a small room. Where was Yue?
He stood and started banging against the walls. "Let me out!" he cried. Just as he flung himself against a wall, it turned into a door and sprung open, leaving him charging at nothing. As a result, he landed flat on his face.
"You know, if you were just a little more patient, that might not happen."
Sokka immediately stood. "Where's Yue? What have you done with her?" he cried, grabbing the girl in front of him by the collar. "Where are the men that attacked us?"
"Men?" the girl laughed. "What if I told you that my girls and I took you and the Water Princess out? Huh?"
Sokka rolled his eyes. "There's no way a bunch of girls took us out."
The girl smirked. Her hand lashed out, taking a hold of his shoulder. In one movement she had him on his back. "What was that?"
"Uncle, uncle!" Sokka cried. He groaned when she pulled him back onto his feet. "Who are you, anyway? Where am I?"
"I'm Suki, and you are on Kioshi Island. You're lucky one of our elders recognized your princess, otherwise you would have been dead meat, Sokka."
"H-how do you know my name?"
Suki gave a small smirk. "Princess Yue talks about you, a lot. Kind of makes her a little annoying. Come on, I'll take you to her."
"This is disturbing news, Aang."
I nodded in agreement. "I'm worried that there may be a traitor within the Fire Nation, Fire Lord. One of the men that tried to poison Appa could fire bend and I believe they said that their master was not of the water element."
Ozai nodded. "An investigation will commence soon, Avatar. But I am more worried about what the North is planning. This could be the beginning of a war and the world cannot take anymore mistrust."
"I'm aware of this, Fire Lord, but I at the moment I'm trying to save more than just the world."
He nodded. "You're trying to save Katara from this Sangok."
I nodded.
"So that she can be with Zuko."
Despite the fact that I was grinding my teeth together, I nodded. "Yes, sir."
Ozai sighed and stood. "What could they be plotting?"
"As I said sir, they wish to rule the world. Already they are trying to spread their power into the South Pole, a battle was happening when Katara and I were forced to leave. They planned on using the marriage between Katara and Sangok as well as the marriage of Sokka and Yue to bind the two tribes together."
The aged man's eyes closed. "I will consult with my brother about this. Meanwhile, please go, enjoy your time here, for this visit will not last long."
I bowed and quickly left the room, glad to finally leave.
Something must have happened last night. Why else would she be wearing Zuko's shirt? Granted, it was over her dress, it was still suspicious. She dragged herself out of bed when she heard someone yelling about pants. She opened the door to see three figures shooting past her.
Shortly after, Azula wandered back, a goofy smile on her lips. But her eyes found the water bender leaning against the door and daggers seems to replace the princess's eyes.
"Stealing Aang's pants, Azula?" Katara asked, masking her jealousy with her taunt.
Azula heaved a sigh and eyed the shirt that covered Katara's torso. She smirked and rolled her eyes. "Stealing Zuko's shirt, Katara?" she pursed her lips. "Naughty, naughty."
Katara's mouth dropped as Azula glided passed her. What had changed her opinion about her?
She shrugged and let out a hefty yawn, turning and retreating back into her room. She pulled open her wardrobe and gasped when she found all sorts of blues in there for her to wear. She slid her hand over the fine silks that reminded her of her home. But surprisingly, she did not miss it. She liked being in the Fire Nation, the warm climate was a nice change.
A pale hand reached out from behind her, pulling a long sleeved dress down from the rack. She took it and held it up to her figure, turning around as she did so.
"Oh! Prince Zuko!" she gasped, curtsying.
"Zuko," he corrected, taking her elbow gently and gliding her over to the mirror. "I like that dress."
She nodded. "I like it, too." Her gaze flicked up to his pale face. She blushed and turned away when his eyes met hers. "I think I'll try it on..." she mused, rushing behind the changing curtain.
When she emerged, she was stunned at what she saw in the mirror. A dark skinned, slender figure stood before her. A silk blue dress clung to her more flattering curves, and drifted away from what didn't. White embellishments on the hem, collar, and cuff of her dress reminded her of the cold tundra of her home, like snow had gathered right on her dress. She turned and gasped when she saw the southern insignia decorating her lower back. She turned back, smiling in the mirror. Her eyes settled on the betrothal necklace she wore and her smile faltered.
Sangok was a bad guy. She knew that.
Without thinking, her hands flew to the tie behind her neck and the necklace fell to the floor, shattering into a hundred little pieces.
He wasn't her Sangok anymore. She didn't want someone that tried to hurt her family.
She turned, looking up at the prince beside her. "Is there anything you need, Zuko?"
He gave her a warm smile. "Well, I would like my shirt back..."
Katara's face turned a bright red and Zuko choked back a laugh as she ran behind the curtain, snatching the shirt she had left behind.
"Katara, do you remember anything from last night?"
She shrugged. "Bits and pieces. I remember I was drunk for a lot of it and dancing. A lot of dancing."
Zuko nodded. "Do you remember this?" His head bent down and he gave her a small kiss, retreating quickly.
Katara's eyes widened. "No, I don't remember that!" Anger boiled inside her and the unwelcome gesture. She wanted more than anything to fling something at him, but, she couldn't bend and he could. She wasn't about to fight him. "...is that how I got your shirt?"
Zuko nodded. "Nothing happened, but we did get a little...er...frisky."
She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"
He nodded. "I don't think we should have danced together, honestly. Otherwise the whole nation wouldn't be thinking that I'm courting you. But if I'm not, then your reputation is trashed and, well, the nation will treat you like a whore. Katara, I don't want that to happen, so..."
Aang, would Aang be a part of the people that would think that of her? He surely must hate her by now, so why wouldn't he? She had told him that she intended to stay with that crazy man. But after last night and the jealousy that had raged through her when Aang had kissed Azula, all of her intentions vanished. Now, only Aang mattered. "Court me," she said before she could think better of it.
Zuko smiled and took her hand. "Come, breakfast awaits us."
...:D DON'T HATE ME THIS IS IN NO WAY TURNING INTO A ZUTARA.
It's just helping the plot. So breath, and don't send me reviews with death threats.
But please, do review. Cause I'm sure none of you thought Suki would show up! :D