Chapter 29:
The rain fell down hard against the windows like tiny bullets, puncturing holes in everything they descended upon. Thunder clapped and lightning lit an otherwise dark sky. The sounds of booming rolled across the city, announcing the arrival of the foreboding, grey blanket of clouds that had been rolling in since the morning. The trees outside seemed to sway back and forth, as if dancing with the heavy wind. The sky now became black and ominous with the wind, now howled behind the thunder claps.
In the dead of night, even the bright city couldn't shed light on the menacing intentions of those who thrive in the darkness. People always claim that darkness creeps in like an unwanted visitor. Darkness can crawl in bed with you and give you a gentle kiss at night. It can knock on your door and you can invite it in. It can cuddle right up to your body and touch your skin when you least expect it.
Katara was curled up in bed and dreamed pleasant dreams. Meanwhile there was something looming outside of her apartment. Two men were outside clothed in all black with ski masks on. They had been parked outside of her home for an hour and now was the time. The rain was heavy and no one with a camera in their right minds would be out to catch them. This was their moment, if there ever had been one.
Katara stirred in bed as a draft came into the room. Her mind was fuzzy as remnants of her dream quickly escaped her mind. The loud blaring of an alarm had jarred her from her peaceful sleep. Stupid alarm, she thought. It hasn't worked right since she had it put in. It went off three times since she had it installed and all of them were false alarms. She let out a yawn and tried to force herself to turn it off before the police would show up again.
The house wasn't completely quiet like it should have been. She heard movement and she definitely didn't have a pet. Maybe it was Sokka there to raid the fridge again for Suki, like he did a few nights ago. For some reason he could never remember the alarm code. She jolted up from her bed quickly when the sound of broken glass hitting the floor reached her ears.
Someone was actually in her home! She frantically reached for her phone to dial 9-1-1 and made sure the door to her room was locked. She was glad her tendency to lock all the doors before she went to sleep, which included her bedroom door and the front door, wasn't proved as obsessive as she had thought in the past. She could hear the voices of two men who were roaming around and ran into her adjoining bathroom, locking the door behind her.
The dial tone on her phone and the heavy footsteps from her living room were all she could hear. The alarm had been going off for 4 minutes now, which meant the police would be on the way but she didn't want to take any chances. A banging came against her bedroom door. She latched her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from screaming.
"9-1-1, what is the location of your emergency?"
The woman's monotone voice was music to her ears.
Katara tried to talk as lowly as she could. She didn't want the men to hear her in there. "1204 Kyoshi Avenue, Apt 2B. Please hurry."
"According to our records a police car has been dispatched already due to the alarm sounding. What is your emergency?"
More steady banging against the bedroom door. Katara clutched the phone tighter and continued to speak into the receiver. "Someone has broken into my house. I think it's two men in my house right now, but I don't know anything else. I locked myself behind two doors, which they seem to be trying to kick in. Please hurry."
"Alright, please remain there. Can you make out anything from inside the bathroom?"
The pounding against the door became more relentless and what sounded like a crack followed behind the last hit.
"I think they broke my bedroom door. They're in my bedroom. Can the cops hurry?"
"Of course. They're ten minutes away now. Stay on the line and do not panic. Remain where you are."
She wasn't exactly panicking, as much as she was dying to fight and damage whomever had broken in. Ten minutes. Just ten minutes and she would be safe. If push came to shove, all of the self-defense classes and karate she took when she was in college would do wonders on those idiots' faces. Katara wasn't one to cower, but in this situation she couldn't help but be nervous. She used to fight all the boys on the playground and dared anyone to actually give her a good fight. She believed in women having power and control, and it was making her feel defenseless at the moment waiting while these men rummaged through her home.
The irony of it all. If she had just stayed with Zuko tonight she wouldn't be curled up on the cold bathroom floor. Not that it would've stopped anyone from coming in.
A mocking voice, followed by a loud bang against the bathroom door came,"Kataraaaaaa! We're here for you. We know you're in there. Come out and play with us. I'm sure your fiancé won't mind."
No one she knew and certainly no one whose voice sounded remotely familiar to her. She locked at time on her phone and it had only been two minutes. Eight minutes between her and being home free. Also eight minutes of opportunity to break down a door and kidnap her.
The dispatcher in her soft voice asked, "Miss, are you okay?"
"They're coming for me, whoever they are."
"Well, please do not-"
The voice on the end of the receiver went dead as Katara immediately dropped the phone. The door seemed like it had shattered in front of her at that moment. She was now face to face with two grown men in all black. From the look of their outfits, they came with the intent of not being seen by anyone but those who were here.
The one on the left stepped forward. "Hello there, Katara. We're excited to finally meet you."
Katara immediately switched into battle mode. "Get out, you creeps!"
She heard a chuckle as they both started walking towards her. This was it. She lunged forward. No one was about to take her that easily. Not on her watch.
~/~
Zuko was busy painting his newest creation. On the canvas was a beautiful tan woman. She had piercing sapphire eyes and flowing brown hair. She dressed in a red robe and straw hat with clear veil. On her face and arms were red streaks of body paint. She was beautiful and mysterious. Zuko had dubbed his new work "The Painted Lady," not able to come up with a better title. For some reason though, it fit. Zuko was concentrating on what to paint against the background, but he was rudely interrupted by some incessant banging on his front door. He hoped it wasn't important. Hell, if it was important he would've gotten a phone call beforehand. Maybe it was June.
Zuko headed upstairs to open his door, fully expecting a tall and beautiful PR agent, but instead was met with the annoying, bald headed, bearded, arrow tattooed, baby face of Aang Zephyr. He did not have time to deal with this or him or whatever he had to say for that matter.
Zuko flashed Aang a sullen and uninviting glare. "How'd you find where I live? Get off my property!"
Aang took one step back and grinned, revealing all of his teeth. "Um, hi, Zuko. I watch the news and I flew over it on my glider. Doesn't take a genius to spot a bird's eye view of a multi-million dollar mansion."
Zuko glanced to Aang's side and was annoyed to see Aang's stupid glider propped up on his front porch. There was no car in view, at least in Zuko's direct sight. Aang couldn't possibly travel around with a vehicle like a normal person. Of course not, even his mode of travel had to be obnoxious.
Zuko wasn't interesting in Aang's attitude and smart mouth. He rolled his eyes and said, "Get off my property before I drag you off myself and have you arrested for trespassing and stalking me!"
"Why does everyone think I'm a stalker?! I'm just trying to warning everyone! Katara won't even listen to me, so I thought I could at least talk to you. She's not safe."
"I'm not Katara. I don't believe every lie that spills out of your pathetic mouth. The only thing she isn't safe from is you." Zuko pulled out his phone and balled his hand up into a tight fist. "I'm calling the cops. I can't guarantee you'll still be in one piece when they get here."
Zuko began to dial the number when Aang snatched the phone from his hand and threw it across the yard.
"Wait, wait stop! Jet wants to ruin you! He's willing to hurt Katara to do it. Leaking the tape for him was the only way to prevent him from doing something worse!"
Zuko gritted his teeth as his nostrils flared. "Besides you owing me a new phone, I'm sure about one thing. You are a liar. Stop throwing other people under the bus for your mistakes. I'll be descending the most severe and quick acting lawsuit the world has ever seen upon your existence. You should leave before I break your nose again. It's healed nicely, by the way."
Zuko turned to go back inside when Aang grabbed him by the shoulder. Zuko immediately shook Aang's hand off. His adrenaline was pumping now by the mere gall Aang had to even attempt to forcefully grab him. He was fully prepared to wipe Aang's face all over the pavement when he turned back around with his eyes glazed with annoyance.
"I'm not trying to protect myself. Everything I've done is to protect Katara, besides lying about the car. I was wrong for that, I admit, but Zuko, can we put our jealousy aside for a moment and protect someone we both care about? Jet, the CEO of Rebels Inc-"
"I know who he is. We now have a personal as well as business rivalry. Listen, you have about two minutes to pitch this whole 'Jet is the mastermind' thing before my patience wears thin with you. How do you know him anyway?"
Aang smirked and began speaking in a more earnest tone, hoping it would smooth things over. "After you rejected my glider, I went to the second best company that could possibly accept it. I booked a meeting and you wouldn't believe how different this meeting was from ours. I mean, he was charismatic and wasn't a pretentious, over-confident prick like-"
Zuko leaned forward and gripped the collar of Aang's shirt and pulled it just enough to get Aang to be alarmed. Zuko interrupted in a threatening voice, "Get to the point."
Aang chuckled and gave a light-hearted smirk, trying to calm the situation down.
"Ha, right. Jet and I got to talking about our lives before we even started talking business stuff. He mentioned he had a girlfriend and I said I had one too. He went on to say that his girlfriend happened to be your sister, Azula. From there we hit it off over our mutual dislike of you. You know, you aren't the most liked guy in town." Aang smirked again, realizing Zuko was glaring at him with disgust again. "Ha, ha sorry again. After that, he endorsed my gliders and we both found out we would both be in attendance at the party. He joked about me and him joining forces to humiliate you there, but I didn't think he was serious. I may not like you, but I didn't want to make a scene at the party. I wanted to spend all night admiring Katara, but that got messed up."
Aang continued on. "Fast forward to the party. He comes into the bathroom while I'm washing my hands and tells me Katara is looking for me, then he blocks the door off before I could leave. He told me he owned the hotel building and had cameras all over the place, including the rooms upstairs. You and Katara had already shared your little dance, which Jet conveniently showed me from his phone. Jet consoled me and pumped my head up about you trying to steal her, and I couldn't deny the evidence in front of my face that served as confirmation. I was pissed at that point and Jet knew, so when I went out there and bumped into you on purpose, he watched in the background as the fight broke out. He even smirked at me when I was escorted out.
"Jet came to me again the day after for what he claimed was a business meeting. He showed me the entire tape of you two right there in his office. If I didn't think she was cheating on me before, when I saw the video there was no denying it. I couldn't believe it, and to be honest, I was heartbroken. He even showed me pictures of you two together on what looked like dates. Jet honestly seemed like a good guy, until he gave me an ultimatum. If I leaked the tape and helped him destroy you, he would endorse my glider to every shelf in the country."
Zuko's eyes widened. "So let me guess: you took the ultimatum?"
"Of course I didn't! I rejected it. I don't dislike you THAT much, and besides that tape would've, well has damaged Katara's reputation too. I was going to come to the authorities and you about Jet having the tape and wanting to leak it, but before I could even leave the room he said if I didn't do it and keep my mouth shut he would make sure Katara would be hurt in your downfall. He, he said he would do terrible things to her, Zuko. I can't even repeat them, so I did it. After that he told me to use Katara to get information about you. According to him, as long as she was useful she would be safe. I couldn't do it, so he ensured he would come after you both hard. I figured the safest place Katara would be is with you and not me, so I sold her on taking your deal with silly dreams, hoping you could protect her better than me. At least if cameras were around all the time, he couldn't get her alone. I have been following her though, to make sure he won't get to her."
Aang's explanation was entirely too thorough to be a lie. If it was a lie it would be a highly fabricated lie. Judging from what Jet already did to Azula and the empty threat he made at the hospital, it's highly possibly that he could want to ruin him both professionally and personally, Zuko thought. But still, why would Jet want to hurt all the innocent people in Zuko's life just for professional gain? Did he really want his company that bad? Was being number one worth that much to Jet? Of course not, there was more to this story than what Aang knew or what either of them knew.
Zuko was still confused. He furrowed his brow and asked, "So let me get this completely straight: After I roasted you for being unprofessional and severed the deal you went to Jet, who used Katara as leverage to get you to leak the tape, and now that you won't do what he says he's going to hurt Katara and possibly me in the process? But you know he won't hurt Katara because of the visibility due to the press? What exactly is his end game here?"
"Beats me. I guess he wants your company and knows hurting the people you care about most will get you to turn it over much easier than just, say a corporate merger? I don't know how the business land works."
"There's more to his motive, I'm sure. I believe he went as far as to purposefully get my sister addicted to drugs. Anyone that conniving and calculating has a reason for everything. One thing I'm sure of is he won't be laying a hand on Katara or anyone else, including you." Zuko extended his hand to Aang. "I don't like you, but there's no way in hell I'm going to let him extort another grown man in the name of business. You have my word that I'll handle this. Consider this hand shake as a truce."
Aang gripped Zuko hand and clasped it in his own. The two men shook an honest and strong hand shake. Zuko still didn't trust Aang completely, not until his team had facts checked. For all Zuko could know, he was lying again. He wasn't taking a chance at Katara's safety in any event if it turned out what Aang was telling him was true.
"A truce that we will destroy Jet before he hurts anymore people, especially Katara." Aang nodded.
Zuko pulled his hand back and grimaced. "Great. Now get off my property. This doesn't mean we're friends. It means we have a common enemy."
"And a common lover," Aang added, turning to leave.
Zuko's face went pink for a bit, then he quickly went back to his stoic expression.
"So you and her really aren't together? After all that talk I could've sworn you would've turned this fake engagement into a real one by now. It seems like I have a shot with her left," Aang said as he thrust open his glider.
Zuko smiled smugly. "In your dreams, Zephyr. Anyway, let's focus on keeping her safe from Jet instead of fighting each other for her."
The sounds of sirens was heard as red and blue lights flashed against the darkness.
"Ummm, you didn't really call the cops on that phone, did you?"
"No. I don't know why they're here. I should have you arrested for damaging my phone, though."
The lone police car pulled into Zuko's driveway behind his car. Zuko anticipated that the officer was here for some stupid reason, until the officer got out, opened the passenger's side door, and out came Katara. Katara was clad only in a short, pink robe and slippers from what Zuko could see. Definitely not a planned appearance.
"KATARA!" Both Aang and Zuko yelled as the officer escorted her over to the front porch. They both eyed each other with antagonizing looks.
"Good evening, Mr. Agni. Someone tried to break into Ms. Sapphire's home. She fought the two assailants off until we got there, but they got away. We advised her to stay at a safe location until the investigation was done. I was told to escort her here. She wouldn't go anywhere else."
"Of course, officer. She is one hundred percent protected here," Zuko responded politely.
The officer nodded and took his leave.
Katara frowned at Aang. "What is HE doing here? He tried to break into my home."
"He was just leaving, Katara. I can also guarantee he didn't do this, but we will find out who did, alright?"
Zuko and Aang shared a slight look, a look of understanding that Jet would go down for this if it was the last thing they both did.
Katara embraced Zuko in a tight embrace. "Let me stay with you."
"Absolutely. You're safe with me." Zuko hugged her back and winked at Aang, who was noticeably irritated by the blatant display of affection.
"Bye, bye Zephyr," Zuko mouthed and waved good bye at Aang while he was still hugging Katara. A properly irked Aang took off in his glider, which left Zuko and Katara alone.
~/~
Katara was still shaken up. It wasn't fair that there were two of them and one of her. Despite the numbers, she knew she did some damage to one guy's eye and the other guy's nose. She felt the nose crack under her fist and saw the other man flinch when she kicked him in the eye. Katara had even twisted an arm while kicking the other guy's knee cap. Toph would be proud of Katara's fighting skills if she were there. She put up a good fight but the men had easily overpowered her just when she thought she had the advantage. If the police had arrived a moment later they might have carried her off into the night without a single word. The thought of being stolen away so easily sent shivers down Katara's spine.
Zuko let Katara stay in one of his guest rooms. It was nice, but painstakingly decorated in gold and red. It was an eyesore compared to her own calming blue décor. Katara couldn't get comfortable in the large bed and foreign room, even if the sheets did have an innumerable thread count. Zuko peeked inside the room, probably assuming she was sleeping. He looked shock to see she was still awake at this hour.
He entered the room, properly dressed in white beater undershirt and grey, plaid pajama pants. His muscles looked great even at five am and with her lacking twelve hours of sleep.
"Katara, you didn't go to sleep at all? The sun will be up soon. You have to rest." Zuko sat at the edge of the red dressed bed and spoke to her in a concerned tone with caring eyes. She sat up, suddenly self-conscious of how thin her sleeping attire was. What made her even more conscious was the fact that Zuko was so far away from her. He still wasn't over their fight. Katara didn't blame him. She had been unreasonable with him. Life was too short to let things remain odd between them.
"Can't sleep. I guess I'm still a little off balance from earlier." Katara twirled some of her hair around her finger. "I'm sorry for everything. For blaming all that's happened on you, for using your money, for pushing you away, and for calling you a man-whore. It's just, I've never been in a crazy, confusing situation like this before. Yesterday I cleaned your house and today I'm your fake fiancé. Forgive me for acting strange and treating you badly."
Zuko turned to face her and sat Indian style on the bed. "It's fine. I forgive you. I've been a jerk too, and I haven't been completely nice to you either, so call it even. Chalk it up to the insanity that is June's workings of PR magic. Now go to sleep, Katara."
Katara gazed at the window. The sky was shaded pink and purple with white clouds. The sun was rising now.
"Too late. And why aren't you sleeping?"
"I assume I'm in tune with my inner sun warrior or something. Ever since I've been young I've always woken up right before the sunrise. My mother used to say that I rise with the sun."
Katara joked, "This just confirms it. You're a strange man, Zuko Agni."
Zuko smiled and ran his hands through his hair. "Yes, I'm a very strange man who is begging an equally strange woman to go to sleep. I can see the bags forming. My fake fiancé needs to look perfect and rest for tomorrow's media fest."
"Oh, that's right! I almost forgot the stupid combined family dinner June requested. How am I supposed to sleep now with the potential disaster this could be?"
"You have all day to figure it out in your dream." Zuko got up from the bed and stood to his feet. "Does the baby want me to tuck her in?"
Katara rubbed her fingers against the silk sheets. She pressed her cheek against the soft, velvet pillow. She settled down into the bed and let the comforter envelop her, but still it didn't feel right. She didn't feel safe.
"Zuko," Katara called before Zuko could reach the door.
"What is it?"
"I, I don't want to be alone. I still feel a little insecure. Can you maybe sl-sleep with me? I mean just lay in the bed with me. We don't have to touch or anything. It would be nice to know you're here so I could sleep."
"Sure, Katara. I'll sleep next to you if it'll make you feel safe."
Zuko pulled back the sheets on the bed and nestled underneath the blankets. Katara was on one side and Zuko was on the complete opposite with looming space between them. It wasn't enough. She needed to feel that he was next to her.
"Zuko", she muttered faintly. "Can you, you hold me? Just for tonight."
When Zuko finally clasped his warm arms around Katara, in a warm and luxurious embrace, she felt at ease. She felt his chest rise and fall against her back as they began to breathe in unison. She felt fragile and protected as he held her close to him. She bathed in his warmth and drank in the smell of his cologne. Her body relaxed against Zuko's, and for once, she fell right asleep with no issues. The world melted away and Katara felt at home.
Author's Note: What do you guys think of this chapter?
In the next chapter: Zuko vs Ozai and a Family Dinner featuring Iroh, Toph, Azula, Sokka, Mai and June of course because she's basically family.