Author's Note: Minor edits made including a change of events. Chapter 33 will be posted tomorrow.
Chapter 32:
The tea shop was full and bustling with energy and happy customers. That's what Iroh loved. He enjoyed seeing warm smiles and people genuinely having a fulfilling time at his expense. He planned on opening a second location soon with how good business was going. He was observing the packed tea shop when one of his workers had got his attention.
"Sorry to interrupt Iroh but someone is on the phone for you in the office. Says he's your brother."
"Oh thank you. Please tend to the customers. I'll take the call."
His brother calling him could be nothing but bad omens for the future. Iroh walked to the back of the store and entered his office. He picked up the phone and heard noise from the receiver.
"Hello Brother. I hear you may get 20 years. May you find peace in your heart while you are in jail."
Ozai let out an unsettling chuckle, "Brother, I'll have you know I'm not in jail right now. Despite your reservations and judgements I do have a kind soul that bailed me out."
Of course Ozai was bailed out. As sinister as he was he had friends or ONE friend. Iroh felt sorry for that one kind soul that considered themselves Ozai's friend. He would soon realize that Ozai was loyal to no one but himself.
He paused for moment, planning carefully his next choice of words, "I'm glad you have a friend but I'm sure even he will be tainted by the darkness in your soul. Let it go before you are consumed. No one can save you from yourself but you."
"Have you seen my granddaughter? She's just a precious one, isn't she?"
Iroh froze. Ozai wouldn't go that far as to harm an innocent girl. He couldn't. Iroh squeezed the phone so tight it could have snapped in half under his grip.
"Don't touch that girl Iroh or I'll come after you. Whatever damage you do to my family I will inflict upon you ten fold!"
"Your family?" Ozai laughed again, "Oh Iroh, you only have a family because I allow it. I can take it all away from you in the blink of an eye. Ursa thought she could challenge me too and look what happened to her."
"I know you aren't that bad as to slay your own wife. You did love her once. Where is she Ozai? Zuko and Azula deserve to know the truth."
Ursa was beautiful and possibly had the most pure spirit of all the people Iroh had ever met. He remembered the light in her eyes on her wedding days, how happy she was. After years of being married to her brother her eyes grew cold and empty. Ozai might as well have killed her because he did kill her spirit. Iroh swallowed hard, resenting his brother for destroying someone so pure.
"In Hell, where all the other sinners belong. I gave her a punishment worse than death. Even you wouldn't be able to find her. Good bye Brother. Tell my son I'll be seeing him soon."
The dial tone on the end of the phone caused a pit in Iroh's stomach. No good could come of this at all.
~/~
Something wicked was happening. Mai was frantic when she went to pick up her daughter from school that afternoon. The sun was high and the sky was a gorgeous shade of blue, but nothing good was going on. She watched in her car as happy mothers and fathers picked up their children from outside of the school grounds and hers was nowhere to be found. She was starting to panic. She had already called Zuko to make sure he hadn't picked her up and her parents didn't have her. She usually was out by now. It was 3:10 and school had been out for ten minutes. Mai decided to get out of the car and look for her daughter herself. She was going to panic if she didn't find her soon. She was so frantic. She was beginning to become terrified. Where was her little girl?
Her teacher was standing outside talking to another parent. She had no problem interrupting their conversation about macaroni or some stupid shit like that.
Mai cut the entire conversation off. "Excuse me. Hi, Ms. Flowers. I'm Mai Stone, Maya's mother. I was wondering where she was. She would usually be running to the car by now."
The confused look the mousy teacher gave her made her want to strangle her where she stood.
"Um Ms. Stone, Maya was picked up maybe 45 minutes ago by a friend of the family. He said you were aware. He even had a signed document that had your handwriting and signature authorizing the pickup."
She could cringe, die, and cry all at the same time. "That's ridiculous. I never authorized any pickup for my child."
"Well I have the letter right here Ms. Stone. Please don't be so aggressive around the children."
Ms. Flowers produced the note and lo and behold that was an exact copy of her signature written in bright blue ink. Mai crumpled the paper in her hands, so angry that someone would even go through these lengths to get to her child. Hadn't she taught Maya all about stranger danger? Maya was smart. She wouldn't have just walked off with a completely stranger. This was organized and planned.
"Who picked her up? I don't know where she is and I swear I didn't write this. Who did you give my daughter too?"
"I don't know, you'd have to go to the office and see. I wasn't the one who authorized the pickup, Ms. Stone. Don't yell at me."
"Oh, up yours, lady!" Mai stormed off and hurried into the school building. The secretary was sitting at the desk all nonchalant. Maybe she had some answers. After she explained the situation, the secretary quickly produced a photocopy of what was given to her.
"We always ask for proper ID from all of parents picking up. This man produced Zuko Agni's ID. He is listed as the father and emergency contact so we released her to him. I swear the man looked like the child's father."
The speed limit was fifteen and Mai was going forty-five miles per hour. She had no time to waste. She had already notified the police of her daughter's absence but they alerted her they wouldn't investigate until she's been gone for forty-eight hours. What a pathetic and thoughtless rule! Her daughter could be dead in a ditch somewhere before the police even started searching for her. She gripped the steering wheel so hard she imagined snapping it into two pieces.
So many thoughts and feelings were going through her head but one thing was extremely apparent. She was absolutely mortified and worried. Part of her wanted to blame Zuko for allowing those pictures of Maya to be plastered all over the internet for crazies to find. Who wouldn't want to kidnap Zuko Agni's daughter? That was big money if the bribe was set at a high enough amount. Mai would pay any amount of money and do anything just to know her daughter was alright.
Zuko had already told her he didn't pick her up. He would never lie about that for sure. The only man that even could come close to passing for Zuko was his father, who was currently in maximum security prison. There was no way he had broken out of jail and his first thought was to kidnap his granddaughter, who never even had the opportunity to meet. But then again, Ozai was the same man who disfigured his son, allowed his daughter to be raped in the next room, and supposedly murdered his wife. How'd he get Zuko's ID? This was crazy.
She needed Zuko. Zuko had resources and could help them find her. Who was this desperate to kidnap a seven-year-old? She barely pulled into the parking space of the Agni lot before speeding out of the car and rushing into the office building. If Zuko wasn't in his office he would be a dead man walking. That would be the only excuse for him not answering her millions of phone calls and texts. The three minutes spent in the elevator was far too long. The hallway was also far too long. She couldn't make it to Zuko's office door fast enough. The door was locked. Of course it was locked. Leave it to Zuko to be extremely cautious when she needed him most. Mai resorted to banging on the door when his floozy secretary walked up in the shortest black skirt known to man. No wonder Zuko kept her airheaded self around after all these years. She was eye candy to say the best of her. She had the largest chest Mai had seen on a girl with such a tiny waist. She'd bet she paid a lot of money to look like that.
"Oh, Ms. Stone! It's been so long since you were actually here. You're just so pretty!" Ty Lee put a stack of files down by her side. "Mr. Agni asked to not be disturbed. He is very busy today. You can come back at a later time."
"Fuck. You. I know you know how to open this door. This is an important matter so open the door, Ty Lee." Mai put her big clenched fist right in front of Ty Lee's pretty and clueless face.
Ty Lee grinned and put her hands up to cover her face. "Um, well I'm sorry, Ms. Stone. I can't do that. I'm only following orders. How about a latte to calm you down?"
Mai wasn't playing. Mama Bear needed to find and protect her cub and this little girl wasn't going to stand in the way of that. She pulled a knife out of her bag and put it right up to Ty Lee's face. She always carried a knife in her bag in case something went left. It worked well enough to deliver this threat. Mai pulled the knife back in her hand and threw it so Ty Lee's short skirt attached to the wall. All that playing darts when she was younger certainly helped her effectively throw a knife. Ty Lee was safely afraid of her now.
Mai pulled another dagger from her bag and flashed it so Ty Lee could see. "Put the code in to unlock the door. I have another knife in my bag and next time I may not miss your pretty little face. Open the door. NOW."
"Y-yes ma'am, Ms. Stone." Ty Lee's hands probably moved the fastest they had ever in life as she put the code into the door.
"Thank you," Mai said politely, taking her knives and putting them back in her bag.
As Mai pushed open the door she heard Ty Lee mutter, "Geez she's scary. She needs a better moisturizer and purple isn't HER color." Mai shot her a death glare and shut the door behind her.
When she saw the state of her once lover she knew something was wrong. She had seen him like this before and had hoped that last time was the final time she would see him like this.
"You have got to be kidding me Zuko!"
~/~
"Where's Zuko?! We're going on in five minutes! He isn't taking calls." June was pissed, as she should be. They were supposed to be prepped and ready to be interviewed but Katara's partner has seemed to be missing. Katara and June were waiting on the set for Zuko. She was getting worried. He had never been late to any of their events together and June looked more than annoyed.
"You know the thing with his dad has him super busy right now. Maybe we should cancel."
"Cancel my ass! You're going solo. We can't just not do the interview. People invested time and energy."
Katara exclaimed, "What?!" She had never spoken in an interview without him. This was a little nerve wracking but she was sure should could wing the interview. It was just for a magazine after all.
"Yes, come on. You can pull Zuko's weight. He'll just be missing out on the cover photo."
The producer entered the room, "Ms. Sapphire. Time to go. Um, where's Zuko?"
June answered, "He's feeling a bit under the weather."
The producer sucked his teeth in. "Well we're going to have to make new arrangements. We do the interview with both of them or nothing."
"Come on, Katara. Let's see if Zuko is in his office. He's costing us time and money now. Let's go."
Was he not here because of what happened last night? Did she do something wrong? He said he would come back after he handled business at his office. He always kept his promises. He also said they would talk about the state of their relationship later, but that hadn't happened. Everything was all too confusing and she grew worried about how he felt about her. She needed some sort of confirmation soon.
~/~
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially the woman who happened to be the mother your child. Mai wore a look of utter disappointment that Zuko had grown all too accustomed to. Zuko though, he felt great. He felt the best he had felt in months! He was invincible. He was untouchable. He was ready to have a good time.
"I can't believe you! You're getting drunk right now, at a time like this!"
Why was Mai yelling at a time like this? He was feeling the best he ever could. That was alright. After another shot he would make her feel ten times better.
"M-mai relax. Let's go have some fun. We can have fun right now." Zuko winked at Mai in the most suggestive yet gross gesture. Mai cringed at the sight. "You're waaaaay too serious right now, Beautiful."
Leave it to Zuko to be more flirty and affectionate in the last few seconds than in their entire relationship. She sighed, "You need to sober up. Drink some water. I need you to be one hundred percent right now. Our daughter is missing. Someone disguised as you came and took her. I don't know where she is."
"WHAT? Where is she? How long has she been gone? Who did this? Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Zuko wobbled to his feet and gripped his desk for stability. His daughter was missing! No one could understand his anger right now. There was no such thing as breaks for him. He needed another bottle for sure.
Mai was on the verge of tears; her eyes were glassy,"You can barely walk a straight line. You're no help right now. I don't know why I thought you would be. Talk to me when you're sober, Zuko. I'm going to go find our daughter, with or without you!"
No one had made her cry more than Zuko. He knew despite her trying to hold in her tears, she needed to let it out. Zuko walked over to Mai and wrapped his arms around her before she stormed off. His arms hugged her waist and her head rested in his chest. Mai began to bawl into Zuko's chest. In moments his shirt was soaked with her tears. They fell in globs from her eyes. They fell down her face like a mother desperate for her child. Mai picked her head up briefly and the pain in her eyes was very apparent. He just wanted to take her pain away, make her forget all about the situation.
Unexpectedly, his hand drifted to her cheek. It settled there and pulled her closer. She inhaled sharply. She was against his warm chest, so close to perfection. Must he be so perfect? She splayed her hand against her chest, intending to push him away, but instead she left it there. His breathing quickened, as did hers. He buried her tenderly in her chest and stroked her hair softly. His chest grew wet with her tears. Mai was shaking in his arms. A soft kiss on her forehead was enough to make her stop. He nuzzled her deeper into his open chest.
Just as the moment had begun Mai pushed him away with a stern hand on his chest. "You're drunk, Zuko. This isn't you."
No matter how drunk he was he would always care about her.
He only gripped her waist tighter. "This is all we have. Y-you're hurting."
"Umm, are we interrupting something?" Zuko heard a familiar voice. He locked eyes with an extremely angry June and a disheartened Katara. "So this is what you do instead of meeting obligations Zuko, really?"
June's stark tone had to be the most sobering noise Zuko had ever heard in his life. Zuko got a look at Katara who looked at him with wide eyes. What was up with everyone today? Couldn't he have fun without all the seriousness?
Meanwhile Katara had received all the confirmation she needed. What he and Mai looked like together was something she just couldn't believe she saw with her own eyes. They had always clawed each other's eyes out before. What changed? His hand was tight around her waist, her hand on his chest, and the look those two shared before her and June came in was definitely full of passion. How would she compete with their history? What if he still loved her?
"K-Kat. June. Hi," Zuko slurred. And then it all made sense. He was drunk out of his mind, Katara thought to herself. Was it true that
"a drunk mind speaks a sober heart" like she has always heard. That she wasn't sure of at the moment. The way he looked with his arms wrapped around her and so close to her...it made Katara unbelievably uncomfortable.
"Geez, you're drunk as a sailor. You can smell the alcohol as soon as you walk in. You cannot skip out on events I've taken the time to plan for you for the bottle," June protested.
"I-I am fine. I just need to rest, rest." He slouched down on the ground and leaned against his desk. Mai only shook her head at him.
Katara responded, "For once the drunk man is right. He needs to clear his head and get sober right now. You can scream at him later."
Mai snapped, "Don't tell him what he needs. He needs to find our missing daughter!"
"Maya. M-Maya. Where are you?" he muttered under his breath. He screamed and punched through the glass window that was behind his desk. "Fuck! I failed her!"
Blood gushed from Zuko's hand and glass shattered all over the floor. His breathing grew heavy as a tears streamed down his face. It was like reality had hit him all at once. With his non-injured hand he reached for the open bottle of alcohol. This was his rock bottom and he needed to drink himself to sleep until he felt better.
There was dead silence in the room between the three women. A knock came on the door. It was Ty Lee.
"Um, Mr. Agni, the board requests your presence immediately. It's urgent." She said with an obvious uncomfortable look on her face.
"He can't meet with anyone right now. Look at him" Katara replied.
Mai added,"For once, I agree with Katara. He can't go in there in this condition."
Ty Lee advised, "They need answers. Rumors are flying around that he'll be asked to step down from his position so if I were, him I'd go speak to the board."
"Well if Zuko goes in there like that there's no way they'll vote for him to stay CEO." June added, "I mean maybe it's what he needs, time to himself. He's clearly having a mini break down."
"The faster he gets out of the meeting, the faster we can search for Maya. There's only one person that can fix this for him." Mai had an idea.
The other three woman asked in shock, "Who?"
"Call Iroh Agni."
~/~
Katara slid down into the steaming water, letting it block out all the sounds of police sirens, cars passing by, and helicopters flying over her head. She let the hot water massage her muscles and alleviate some of the built up stress she had acquired. She hadn't been near home since the two men broke into her house but she needed to unwind. Her dad's house had always been a safe haven for her growing up so she had decided to spend the day there while her dad was off doing whatever random errands he had planned.
Katara had always loved the water, even when she was younger. She felt free and at peace whenever she took a swim or even stuck her toes in pool. The bath water moved softly around Katara's outstretched pulls her hand up from under the water and let the water slip through her fingers. She watched the drips fall and create ripples on the surface of the water. She was amazed how calm yet powerful the water was. When water was still it was serene and peaceful but when it was trigger water could be violent and destructive like a tsunami. She valued the dual nature the element had but also wished she could be like the water. Right now life was anything but peaceful.
She got out of the bath feeling washed free of some of her burdens at least. She put her blue robe on and tied her wet, brown hair into a bun. Right now she wanted to curl up in her old bed and watch Netflix. Tonight she wanted to be Katara. Not Zuko Agni's fiance or Mai's enemy, or even anything drama related. She just wanted to be normal.
She went to the kitchen and began popping popcorn to prepare herself from the most hardcore binge watch of her life. A knock from the front door startled her. So much for relaxing.
"Who is it?" She called loudly. No answer but another hard knock came at the door. Every since the break in she had become a little more cautious. She grabbed the first knife she could put her hands on and put it behind her back. The door knob turned. Someone was coming in and she lunged forward, seeing red. Her attack was met with two quick grabs to her wrists and the knife being dropped from her hands.
"Katara, calm down. It's just me!" It was Sokka's high pitched voice that snapped her back into reality. It was only her brother, not another attacker. Thank God. "Besides, what defense would you have really had with a butter knife?"
Well she was lucky she really wasn't being attacked because she had picked up the first knife like object she could see. Sokka was right a butter knife wasn't the best option for weaponry.
"Sorry, just a little tense I guess. What are you doing at Dad's anyway? Thought I'd be here alone today."
"Same reason you are. Nice robe Sis. Suki's been getting really emotional now that she's farther along in the pregnancy and it's been a little stressful to constantly have to cater to her. Just wanted a quick break."
"The baby shower planning is going well I'm proud to tell you. One less thing for you to worry about."
"Thanks. So what's going on in celebrity land? Toph hasn't spoken to you in a while and neither have I, to be honest."
"What do you mean? You both just saw me at the dinner party Sokka. It's hardly like you guys don't talk to me at all."
"I mean outside of the plastic like Zuko has seemed to suck you into. Come on Sis. We don't talk to you. You look dog tired and you attempted to stab me with a butter knife no less. I know when something's not right with my baby sister. Talk. Now."
"It's just stressful. Constantly having to act like everything is perfect with a person who is less than the drama with him and the drama with everything else it's just not what I expected."
"Is he hurting you? Because you know me and Toph can show him who's boss!"
"No, no. He started drinking a lot again and things are confusing between us. His daughter is missing and his company is a little under fire right now if you haven't watched the news."
"It's not like this whole thing is real anyway. It's a business deal, a contract and those can be broken. If he's drinking I don't think he's the guy for you. He can be unstable and volatile. Who knows what state he's in when he's drunk Katara? I want you to get out of this deal before you get hurt. Forget about the nice cars and the exposure. I need to know you're safe. You have got to respect yourself better than you have been."
"I DO respect myself Sokka.I have been nothing but good to Zuko and good to you! I don't need this from you. Who's planning your entire shower? Who's giving you money when you need it?"
Sokka had the nerve to reprimand her and Zuko had the nerve to intimately hug his ex when he had just spent the night with her. She was getting tired of this.
"Yea, you've been playing such a wonderful housewife Katara. Don't take anything out on me if you're frustrated with Zuko. I don't care if Zuko gave you a palace made of gold I'll never trust an alcoholic around my sister. I'll go with you if you need help handling him and getting out of this."
"I can handle myself! Zuko is fine. He would never hurt me." But he already had or fully intended to hurt her, she thought to herself. Mai and Zuko's embrace came rushing back to her remembered being shocked at the shards of glass in Zuko's bleeding hand. That was just a window. Windows could be fixed. Her heart couldn't if she was making a mistake.
"Oh because you're an excellent judge of character. You said Jet was fine and would never hurt you either and he cheated on you multiple times. You aren't seeing him anymore and you aren't continuing this stupid deal, not when he's drinking. He's obviously spiraling out of control and no amount of effort you put in can fix this guy. Dad agrees so don't go whining to him later."
"I can do what I want, with who I want Sokka. I'm not a little girl anymore. I don't need protecting. I can make my own decisions."
"Oh God, did he whisper sweet nothings in your ear at night or told you that he loved you the morning after? That is Guy 101. Of course he's going to say whatever he wants to sleep with you again. He's using you: for his career, for his ego, and for sex. I'm not going to let you get played like this and I'm not giving him the opportunity to 'accidently' put his hands on you after a drunken episode."
"He's not! I am safe with him! Someone tried to break into my house and he held me all night long. You may know him from the media but he's not the same guy. I know his heart."
"Someone tried to what? Katara, this is getting dangerous. Get out before it's too late. I'm not asking you again."
"Then don't ask again. It was just some crazy fans. No one's trying to hurt you. I'm going to relax in my room. I don't want to talk about this anymore."
"Fine. I'll handle it then. I'm only doing what's best for you. You'll realize that sooner or later."
Katara just wanted to sleep for all eternity and forget about everything. She couldn't even turn her phone off without getting bothered. A message came through from the person she had least expected.
Jet: I wish you the best on your engagement and I'm truly ecstatic that you found someone to love you like you deserve. However, I heard about Zuko and the company. I do hope he's able to keep you safe. There's crazy people out here who will do anything to get Zuko's power, including come after his new fiance if need be. I just hope you're coping with this newfound fame well. You were always so level-headed in college. Stay safe and best wishes on marriage. I know you won't respond but I just wanted to tell you I was thinking about you Katara. Good bye Katara. I really wish we could've been friends.
No one was a better man with words than Jet. He was up to something and Katara didn't want to find out what. He seemed like he knew way more than he led on. No one knew about the break in besides Aang, Zuko, and the police. So why was Jet so suddenly worried about her safety? There was a hidden message between the lines of text for sure.
~/~
She was completely enveloped in darkness. She was shaking so much like a leaf in the wind. She just wanted to be with her mom right now, not where ever she was now. Tears soaked into the blindfold on her face. Just a moment ago she was in her classroom learning about multiplication but now she was all tied up, completely terrified. The blindfold was removed and she found herself in an empty room, sitting on the floor. A man with short, jet black hair, and eyes like her father had walked over to her. She was shaking even more when he kneeled down in front of her.
"Who are you? Where's my Daddy? Why am I tied up? You're a bad man!" She squirmed trying to get out of her restraints, but her arms were too weak and the rope was too tight.
"Well Maya, I'm a friend of your grandfather." Zhao untied the young girl and fixed her messy hair. "Your Daddy is busy right now. We only tied you up so you wouldn't hurt yourself, darling. I'm a friend, I promise."
"My grandpa? I only have one grandpa, Grandpa Ukano."
"My sweet girl, Ozai is your father's father. Come now. Let's go meet your grandpa, Ozai, before he gets restless. He has special plans for you, and I have a board meeting to attend." Zhao smirked devilishly, leading the little girl to her imminent plan.
"Board meeting? Why would you want to go to a bored meeting?"
"Well it's for your Daddy. It's very important that I get to vote and speak my voice at this meeting." Zhao led her into the next room. "Meet your grandfather Maya."
There was Ozai Agni sitting on his throne with a sinister smirk on his face, "Hello child. I am Ozai, your grandfather. You are going to be very important to me Maya."
People always said it was always darkest before the dawn. Ozai was a strong believer in the saying. That which could be hidden in the night could not escape the incredible power of the sunlight. His sunlight and his power was one that could have the entire business world at his fingertips. Those who would not accept his new order would be burned by his rays and blinded by his excellence. His plan could come into fruition soon and it all started with the young girl in front of him.
Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. I had a rough week and have been dealing with a lot of family issues but I'm back! So I changed the Zuko/ Mai kissing thing, removed some content, and added some more. What do you guys think?