I'm back. And obviously not dead. Please forgive my lack of updates. Life happens. *gasp* What?! Yeah. I know. Anyway I edited and updated some previous chapters to add more detail and flow and stuff so you guys should check that out.

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—Iason

Inuria

Chapter 6

Katara was anxious for more than one reason. First of all there was the overwhelming presence of a secret Zuko was keeping from her and everyone else. Was is for their own good? He certainly seemed to think so, and honestly she was not happy about it at all. She knew he cared, and that was good, but honestly if the man's life was being threatened he should probably consult his friends.

Then there was this . . . whatever that was spawning between them. Honestly she wasn't fourteen anymore and yet her own self seemed to betray her every time she was around the Firelord. But why? Well there was that one time where — Katara stopped herself. That had been a one time thing. And an accident at that. A mistake.

She sighed.

Then there was the celebrations for the end of the War which, if it were up to Katara, would be a lot less formal and a lot less . . . ceremonious. Her brother only showed up for the food, she knew that for certain, and everyone else in Team Avatar showed up because everyone else in the Team was there. They rarely were ever in the same place at the same time anymore, and it was highly exhausting.

Katara sighed again and looked into the tall mirror, staring at her reflection with scrutiny. She saw a relatively plain young woman. Dark hair, tanned skin. Her mother's eyes, no doubt. She had an athletic build, but not too defined. Pretty tall. But not overly so. She tilted her chin up a little and to the side. She guessed she was pretty. Never had she really thought about it except in moments like these when she was to present herself in front of essentially the entire world. Many people thought she was breathtaking but she didn't see it. She was . . . her. And that was enough.

There was a soft knock on the door and Katara straightened her formal, water tribe dress robe. "Yes?"

"Lady Katara," a small voice Katara recognized as a servant Zuko assigned her, "the Firelord has sent me to remind you that the officials and nobles will be arriving in an hour's time."

"Yes, I'll be out in a second," she called back. There was no response and Katara assumed the servant had left.

Just as Katara had finished putting her mother's necklace around her neck, there was a far less delicate knock on the door than the last visitor. In fact, it seemed more of a pounding than anything else.

Katara winced. She knew only one person who'd knock like that.

"Sokka," she called out.

Her brother paused. "So you're decent?"

She had only opened her mouth to respond when her older brother threw the door open with a flair only he could conjure.

"The party," he paused for dramatic affect and gave a deep bow, "has arrived."

Katara couldn't help but just stare at her brother. How in the world were they even related? She took a look at his freshly shaved scalp and his relatively trimmed warrior's wolf tail and decided he actually made an effort this year.

Last year had been disastrous for a number of reasons.

"Have people started showing up? Because someone told me they wouldn't be for another hour or so," Katara said conversationally as she turned around to check her hair one more time, pretending to take great care in doing so.

She could feel Sokka's astonishment radiating off of his person.

"No! The party isn't a party without one crucial person," he began.

Katara turned around and walked towards the door. "The Avatar?" she teased him as her shoulder brushed his arm.

Sokka made a noise that sounded like a strangled Appa. "No!" He cleared his throat as he followed her out of her room. "Only the most distinguished individual, a warrior from the Southern Water Tribe, and an asset in the defeat of the old Firelord's war balloons during the War —"

Katara rolled her eyes at this comment since her brother never seemed to let her or anyone else forget that one.

"—Sokka the Magnificent!" her brother stopped to take a breath. "So. What do you think? I've been working on a name for a while now."

Katara just flicked him with some water from a hidden pouch beneath her layers of fabric, and smiled to herself as he began to scold her for attacking "Sokka the Magnificent".

When the siblings finally got down to the giant courtyard where the whole celebration was planning on happening, Sokka grabbed Katara's arm and pulled her to the side. She gave a cry of surprise, catching the attention of a few servants still setting up the place, and found herself in the shadows of some columns lining the courtyard.

She looked up at her brother in annoyance and was ready to scold him for his childish antics when she realized he was completely serious. His eyes were alert and concerned, and she realized something was up.

"Sokka —" Sokka cut her off.

"Katara, have you noticed anything odd lately? Since we showed up here, I mean."

Katara looked at him carefully. What did he know? As much of an idiot her brother pretended to be, and kind of was really, she knew that he was a genuine person. He was intelligent, and he was calculating. But most of all, he cared for those he loved, and was more than aware if one of those people were in trouble.

She thought about the attack on Zuko that one night where no one seemed to notice but her. Sokka normally slept through everything and anything. But a fight . . . especially like the one Zuko had had . . .

"Katara." Sokka's voice and tone broke through her thoughts and she met his eyes again, so like hers.

Her face must have said it all, the guilt and the confusion, and Sokka let out a breath of . . . well she didn't quite know.

"I knew it."

Katara blinked. "What?"

"Listen, the night where Zuko was attacked by those two men — yes don't give me that face, I arrived on the scene before you did — the two assassins . . . they weren't there to kill the Firelord." Sokka was talking in hushed tones, his entire face expressing his concern over the situation.

Katara's thoughts stopped as she registered what he had just said. She remembered that Zuko had been unwilling to tell her anything more about what happened other than two men had attacked him in his own bedroom with potentially lethal force, but she also remembered that Zuko had been unwilling to tell her anything more about it.

She listened as her brother began to talk more. "I don't know what Zuko told you about them, but he's keeping something big from us, and I don't know why. I trust him, I do. I trust him with my life, but something weird is happening that could explode in our face."

She furrowed her brow and looked up at him. "Sokka, why are you telling me this now?"

"There's a celebration about to begin with every single important leader and official gathered together in one courtyard. The palace will be practically empty and the world will be in celebration. This is the perfect time to strike and don't tell me it won't happen, because it's happened before at other gatherings."

Katara nodded slowly. "So what were you saying before?"

Sokka took a deep breath. "Remember when Zuko demanded a sparring match with Toph and everyone was super surprised because she beats everyone up? It doesn't take much to realize that the only reason he did that was to talk to her about something that no one else would hear about."

Katara already knew this. In fact she had tried to get Toph to tell her what they had talked about, but the earth bender hadn't said anything about it. Clearly the two knew something she didn't and they were determined to keep it as such.

"Zuko went on a walk last night after he said he was going to bed, not long before everyone else did. About an hour and a half after that Toph went out and didn't come back until early this morning."

"Where did you —" Katara began.

Sokka waved his hand impatiently. "The servants know everything. Anyway, she came back with Aang, and when I asked him this morning about what she had been doing, he said that she was just standing by this large rock as if she had been waiting for someone. In fact, he said that she almost took his head off when he first landed —"

Katara cut him off. "Hold on! What do you mean Aang showed up last night?"

Sokka gave her an exasperated glance before he looked around to make sure no one else could hear them before he looked back down at her. "Katara. He showed up early this morning, don't you listen?"

Katara nailed him in the shoulder with a small chunk of ice.

"Ow! Okay, yes he did. But you won't see him until the party begins because he's been sleeping all day and needs to do some Avatar, monk, guru meditation stuff."

Katara huffed in annoyance. "Fine. Continue."

"I want you to come with me tonight to go wherever Toph and Zuko went last night and see what was going on."

Katara stopped and looked at her brother again. His eyebrows were knit tight in determination, his eyes highly concerned and a little scared, but she could see the faint sparkle of excitement. It had been a while since they had had a real adventure again. Most of their lives consisted of peacemaking in small towns and talking with really important people for hours on end.

"Why not just ask Toph or Zuko?"

Sokka snorted. "They wouldn't tell us. Between the two of them they have enough pride and stubbornness to last a Nation a lifetime. Believe me, the only way we're going to get them to cave is if we know exactly what they're up to."

Katara sighed. "Is Zuko's life in danger?"

Sokka paused, and Katara waited. She knew her brother would give a real response. He would never take something like this lightly. Ever.

"I believe it is." He took another heavy breath. "And probably more than just his."

Katara nodded. She trusted his instincts. "Okay. Tonight. Whenever everyone is gone. We'll go."

Sokka nodded and the siblings strode into the courtyard to await their friends, unaware of the man standing deeper in the shadows not twenty feet from where they had previously stood.

"Is this really necessary?" Zuko asked weakly as a bunch of women circled him, making last minute stitches in his new Firelord robe.

"Firelord Zuko, it is more than necessary. Now stand still," a matron-like woman chided him as she supervised the whole project.

Zuko began to grumble to himself and let out a yelp as she whacked him on his backside with a measuring stick. "None of that either."

The room was filled with silence as the women finished fitting his robes. Honestly to take this long to do this. This was normally done a week before the event. Not the day of. Zuko wanted to use some choice words to express his frustrations but when he met the woman's gaze again he decided against it. There was something about mother's that just frightened him. Well. When they were angry.

Zuko used all of his willpower to stay still and escaped the annoying pricks and prods by going into his thoughts. So far the day had been good. Toph had visited him this morning just after he had woken up and had reported that no one had come all night. She had left her post whenever Aang had shown up.

The fleeting hope that the man's banter and demands that night would have hinted at any aspect of his true identity had been dashed completely. Zuko now knew that he would have to find the man through the long path.

Didn't the man say something about how he would be at the celebrations? Something wasn't right. By that notion, it could mean that the man was someone Zuko knew or should know. Meaning he was on the guest list. Or it could mean that the man planned on sneaking in, and Zuko would know how easy that was to do. He's sneaked into many places that were supposed to be heavily guarded. But maybe he could use it to his advantage.

"Madam Mao? Can you get Zheng for me?" His personal servant would do perfectly.

The woman rolled her eyes and stepped out into the hall for a few minutes and it wasn't long before his servant came scurrying into the large room. He gave a deep bow.

"Sorry, my Lord. Just dealing with decorations and such. You called?"

Zuko looked down at the spry young boy with a fond glance then winced as a needle poked him in the back of his knee.

"I want you to post two or three of our White Lotus in the passageways leading towards the courtyard." There was no need to be vague about this demand.

Zheng paused. "So not just the main hallway and the main entrance outside or the courtyard gates."

The two looked at each other for a few seconds before Zheng seemed to get the picture and nodded.

"I got it. Anything else?" the boy asked as he inched towards the door.

Zuko paused. "No. I think that's it."

The boy opened his mouth as if to ask him another question but decided against it and flashed Zuko a wide grin before he scurried off to who knew where.

Zuko smiled to himself. He was quite proud of the way he ran the palace. Now instead of people always bowing and cowering in fear, he was smiled at, waved at, bowed at in respect or as an equal rather than a tyrannical leader. And the boy serving him for a few gold pieces every week didn't hurt. Zheng was a good friend. Loyal. Fun. Understanding. After all, the boy's father had forced him and his mother to hide in the Fire Nation.

"Firelord Zuko. You are now finished," Madam Mao said dryly.

Zuko stepped down from the podium with as much patience as he could muster, but no amount of regal behavior would ever be able to cover up his relief.

"So I can change and leave?" he asked hesitantly.

Madam Mao nodded and within five minutes, the Firelord was free.

He rushed to where he knew his friends were staying and decided that since he didn't have to wear that godforsaken robe for another few hours, he was going to go as far away from Madam Mao as possible.

It wasn't long before he ran into the two people he had wanted to find.

"Aang!"

"Zuko!"

They both paused once they realized they had spoken simultaneously, then burst into good natured laughter as they embraced each other. Zuko pulled back and held the Avatar at arms length.

"For a guy who's been out and about for weeks on end, you look good. You're almost as tall as me," Zuko added.

Aang shrugged. He was merely a few inches shorter than the Firelord now, but it was worth mentioning. In fact the Avatar had grown a lot from the twelve year old kid he had defeated Ozai with.

Aang was not only taller, but he had the beginnings of a beard along his jawline, neatly trimmed and most likely steadily growing. He wasn't overly muscled like an earthbender, nor built for power like a firebender, but he was lean and wiry. And his grey eyes . . . well there was enough mischief and laughter in them to remind Zuko that though Aang was still seventeen, he was a kid at heart. And it made Zuko smile.

The Firelord regarded the young woman by the Avatar's side. "Hey, Toph."

Toph scratched the side of her nose. "Hi."

"I wanted to ask you —" Zuko began.

"Last night?" Aang interrupted him.

Zuko nodded slowly. Toph scratched her ear and gestured for them to follow her.

"I don't want this conversation to be overheard."

Before long they were in Toph's room and sitting on her floor in a triangle of sorts. Zuko shifted a little to get comfortable. "What did you find?"

Toph sighed. "That was a more blunt start than I thought you'd try."

Aang and Zuko shared a quick smile before Toph began talking again.

"I found nothing. Other than the fact that you're probably dealing with something you aren't telling anyone else, and that I really don't want to get involved in it, I'm not too concerned with who you're dealing with. No one showed up."

Zuko paused. "Isn't this what they want us to do? Think we're not being threatened and then they end up being threatening."

"That seems to happen to us a lot," Aang supplied helpfully.

Zuko frowned. "Thank you, Avatar."

"Anytime."

Toph looked thoughtful before she turned her head towards the Firelord in a way that made him forget she couldn't actually see him.

"What aren't you telling us?"

There was a suffocating silence as Zuko hesitated. He could tell them. But then he knew they'd reassure him he was being over dramatic about the entire situation and worry about his mental state. But by not telling them they were already really worried for him. He decided to just tell them and get it over with.

"The man said something about how he'd be at the party tonight. Meaning we already know him, we don't know him but he's on the guest list, or we don't know him."

Aang gave a low whistle. "Well. That's a broad spectrum."

Zuko merely glared at the Avatar.

Toph grunted in response. "Okay. What else?"

Zuko blinked. "What do you mean 'what else'?"

"Obviously there's something else whether you know it or not that's eating you from the inside out and I want to know what it is."

Zuko thought back to the night he was attacked. "Well. The man who spoke said 'We are everywhere,' which could mean he has a large connection system. But I doubt that's it." Zuko paused. "He had blue fire."

This time Toph let out a low whistle. "He's not a regular firebender, is he?"

Aang jumped in once more. "So, what does this mean?"

Zuko paused. "I don't know."

Aang opened his mouth to answer before the door flew open to reveal Sokka standing in the doorway.

"Aang?!" the water tribe warrior exclaimed.

Aang stood up and the two embraced happily.

"Have you seen my sister?" Sokka asked the Avatar.

Aang shook his head. "Not since I've gotten here."

Sokka shook his head. "I will never understand women and preparations for parties." He addressed the rest of them. "Guests arrive in like an hour and a half. Iroh wants us to review our speeches. He doesn't believe me when I say we have it together."

They all looked at each other and groaned. Toph fell backwards, spread-eagle on the carpet.

"Can we just hide in here and hope he doesn't find us?"

Zuko shook his head with a wry smile. "My uncle would find us. He always does."

And with that, they made their way to the courtyard while Sokka went to retrieve his sister and speak to her on a few important matters of his own.

"My collar is a little tight."

"Bear with it. You're only wearing it for tonight."

"The celebration will be for hours though."

"I'll be there too. You just need to do your part."

There was a pause.

"Where's my invitation?"

Another pause.

"Are you ready to go?"

"I am."

"Good. Let's show our dear Firelord and Avatar what happens when they take what's not theirs . . ."

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