AN: Omigosh, what a wait, right? Sorry, all! Hope the new chapter's worth it!
I want to thank everyone for so much love here and on tumblr - this is such a fantastic community to write for, so positive and supportive! Every review is such an amazing boost and so encouraging to keep writing, even if the chapter is a challenge like this one was. Again, I hope you enjoy it!
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Zuko felt like he was falling a long ways, yet his feet remained flat on Azula's sitting room floor. No pregnancy? No baby? In his mind, Zuko had been holding his son for days, a warm weight now turning to smoke.
He shook his head and glared. "Katara wouldn't lie to me."
"Debatable. In this instance, however, the waterbender herself doesn't know the truth."
"Why should I believe you? You always twist things to your advantage, Azula. My heir would stand in your path to the throne. I know you don't want that."
"Honestly," Azula sighed, "you can have the throne. As heir apparent, I spent the past year sitting in on council meetings and making rulings on small disputes." Her eyes narrowed minutely as she recalled. "My decisions were rarely… popular."
Zuko watched her closely. The idea of Azula willingly relinquishing power was laughable… except, maybe receiving criticism for the first time in a life spent doing everything perfectly really was too much of a strain for her. Because what would she do if a council disagreed with her ruling? Burn their petitions? Intimidate them?
"Point being," Azula went on, "I have no problem, personally, with you spawning a line of half-breed natural children poised to start a civil war. I simply know for a fact that you haven't achieved it yet. Unless…" She arched an eyebrow, watching him with a blend of distaste and cutting amusement. "…you've resumed your efforts since the waterbender left the infirmary."
Zuko's face went hot and he bristled. "Of course not."
"Ah Zuzu, I've missed watching you fight wars with yourself. I think I'll really enjoy having you back in the palace again."
He shot her an especially nasty look, but couldn't help believing her just a little.
Azula sighed and rolled her eyes upward. "My healer of course could tell with a simple scan that your little prize wasn't carrying any… additional passengers. But discovering that peasant medicine in her clothing lent me a great opportunity which, honestly, you should be grateful I bothered to pursue."
"Grateful," Zuko spat, shaking his head. He still wasn't sure he believed. He didn't want to believe.
"Yes, grateful," Azula said, watching him steadily. "Because now you know what that waterbender will do with just a whiff of power. Now you know that she will turn against you and in so doing reduce your nation to chaos."
Zuko glared at her, then tore his eyes away.
Azula tipped her head toward him. "Zuko, it's time to set aside whatever childish delusions you have about this girl and consider realistic options."
The words were hammering in his head. Unrealistic. Deeply confused. Zuko gritted his teeth against them. "What are you suggesting? That I throw her in a cell and keep her there indefinitely?"
"That would be the wisest course," Azula said with dry disapproval, "but there is another way. You could also convince Father to allow you to keep her as your personal concubine, if you'd bother to listen to my advice."
"She's not a concubine!"
"No," Azula said, tipping her head to one side. "Then what is she?"
"She's-"
Zuko's silence stretched out, and Azula examined her nails. "Let me guess. She's special. You're in love with her. You may even want to marry her, because you think she would make an excellent Fire Lady and it wouldn't even bother you if your heir was born a waterbender."
Zuko stood stunned, his jaw working slightly. It was uncomfortably close to the truth.
Azula glanced at him. "Do I need to explain why that's wrong, or do you want to guess?"
Zuko gritted his teeth and mastered himself. "When she gets past her anger-"
"She'll still be a waterbender. And an enemy of the Fire Nation. Not only would she be untrustworthy to fulfill the duties of the Fire Lady, the Counsel of Sages would never allow the crown prince to sully himself with such a union."
Zuko's head buzzed as he tried to find a way around this cruel truth.
"Not to mention what Father would have to say on the matter…" Azula watched him as she went on blandly. "He might even banish you all over again. And so soon after your return. Now that would be a pity."
"Stop it, Azula."
"On the other hand," she went on, her tone turning serious, "when you are presented to the people of the Capital upon your return, you will represent the conquering power of the Fire Nation in their eyes. Imagine what it would do for our people to see you holding the chain that keeps the infamous Katto, and the Water Tribe itself, in line." She lay back on one elbow that knifed deep into the cushions. "Father would appreciate the symbolism of that arrangement. Probably enough to make it a permanent installation at the palace."
Zuko scowled and began to pace. "I won't publicly humiliate her. There has to be some other way."
"You could visit her in prison, I suppose."
"This isn't a joke!"
"No. It's a choice - a very simple one. Either you show Father that you can keep your pet under control, or you bury her away in some dry hole where she can't cause trouble."
Zuko turned for the door. "I don't have to listen to this."
"Have it your way," Azula sighed, "but try not to do anything stupid like telling the waterbender the truth."
Zuko paused to shoot her one more glare, but he found Azula looking back at him with urgency rather than the mockery he had expected. She went on, unblinking.
"As long as she believes there is a life inside her to protect, she's weak. Trust me, Zuko. When she's wielding the power of the full moon, you'll be glad you listened to my advice."
Seething, Zuko stalked from the room.
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Katara propped her cheek on her knuckles and glared unseeingly at the scroll spread out on the table before her. She had chosen it at random from the shelf after the guards took Sokka away, but had been too angry to so much as read the title. They wouldn't say where they were taking him, or when he would be back, only that they acted on the Prince's orders.
Katara clenched her teeth and drummed her fingers on the parchment before her. She hadn't seen Zuko since the previous night, but she had heard him storm back to his quarters, and in the morning his clipped tone had awakened her as he gave orders to Yotsu in the sitting room. By the time she and Sokka finally got up and emerged from their room, Zuko was hours gone.
But his absence clearly didn't stop him from being a nuisance to Katara. She stewed, certain that he was taking out his frustrations with her on Sokka with a practice sword. So much for being polite. Katara drummed her fingers on the scroll and stole glances up at Lieutenant Roshu, who stood at attention by the door with the other guards, all of them pretending not to notice her dirty looks.
Abruptly, the door swung open and another guard arrived, escorting a shuffling girl.
"Where are we?" Toph asked in a high, frightened voice that was not like her at all. She clenched the hand of the guard on her right, who bent his head toward her as he replied. Katara remembered him from transfers with Lieutenant Roshu. Kaiji. He guided the small earthbender through the doorway with ill-disguised care.
"We've arrived in the royal suite, Miss Bei Fong."
Katara leapt to her feet, forgetting the guards in her shock. "Toph!" She rushed across the room.
Toph's blind eyes widened and she reached out one hand in an uncharacteristically helpless gesture. "Katara? Is that you?"
Brushing off the strangeness of her friend's behavior, Katara pulled her into a tight hug despite her chains between them. Toph stiffened in her arms, then yielded and hugged her back with a ferocity that did not fit the lost tone of her voice. Katara gulped back tears. "Are you okay? I was so worried about you being alone in those cells."
"You were worried about me?" Toph choked, her rough voice just shy of a whisper. Her fingers dug into the back of Katara's tunic. "I almost killed you, Splatto."
Katara hesitated and, stiffly, Toph drew back.
"I should have known better than to get involved in that fight," she said, her tone once again the high, lost voice of a small girl. "I can see now why my parents kept me from learning too much bending; there's no way I can safely earthbend without being able to see."
"How can you say that?" Katara sputtered, halfway between laughter and genuine concern. What had happened to the resilient, rough-and-tumble Toph she knew? Had a couple of weeks in a cell really changed her this much? "Toph, you know that's not true. You're amazing! You're the Bare-Knu-"
"Katara, I know you want to make me feel better," Toph cut in. There was an odd emphasis in her speech, like she was clenching her teeth. "But I'm just a helpless blind girl."
Katara shook her head, about to press the issue, but Toph squeezed her wrist and tipped her head ever-so-slightly toward Kaiji. That was when Katara took in the guard's lingering stare at the back of Toph's head and realized what was going on.
She was playing them. Maybe Azula and Zuko knew the extent of Toph's power, but all the guards could have seen was a blind girl accidentally striking her ally with a boulder. Probably, they had been warned that she was dangerous, but being warned was a far cry from being made to believe.
Katara's teeth clicked together as she shut her mouth.
Toph smirked slightly, then blanked her expression before turning slightly back toward Kaiji. "I hope it's not rude to ask, but can we possibly have some tea? My throat is terribly dry after climbing all those stairs. I haven't been out of my cell in so long..."
The soldier bowed sharply. "Of course, Miss Bei Fong. I'll see to it."
"Thank you. Katara? Is there somewhere we could sit down?"
"Uh, yes, because you're so tired from all that climbing!" Katara fluttered to guide Toph deeper into the room. "Come on, Toph. There's a table just a little way over here...
"Actually," Toph said as they shuffled together, "I would much rather lie down, if that's alright with your guards."
Katara realized at once what she was up to - if they could get into her room alone, they could speak more freely. She cast a challenging look back at Lieutenant Roshu. "I'm sure the Lieutenant wouldn't mind if you lay in my bed while we talk, Toph."
All pretense of ambivalence gone, Roshu stepped threateningly toward them. "Prince Zuko's orders were clear. You're to have your visit within sight of guards at all times."
Katara glowered and opened her mouth to deliver a sharp retort, but Toph squeezed her hand. "That's alright," she said, and it was artful how she at once seemed both plucky and deeply disappointed. "I can sit at the table."
Katara scowled at Roshu, who gave no sign of bending as Toph made her painfully slow way toward the cushions. It surprised her, then, when he cleared his throat. "I suppose we can watch through the open door, if you must lie down, Miss Bei Fong."
"Oh, that would be just wonderful," Toph sighed. "Thank you for being so kind."
Hardly able to contain her own smirk, Katara guided Toph into the little side room and helped her settle on her pallet, propping her up with pillows so that she could sit in a reclined position. A moment later, a maid delivered a tray of tea and small cinnamon biscuits. Katara watched her go, taking the opportunity to assess where Roshu had taken up watch near the table. She met his eye for just an instant before turning back to Toph and speaking very softly.
"We'll have to whisper if we don't want to be heard."
"Oh Katara!" Toph tittered, loudly enough for anyone to hear. "I think the Lieutenant is just trying to follow orders. I don't recognize his voice, so I don't think he's been charged with my care before, but he seems like an honorable enough sort."
Katara made a disbelieving noise. Roshu was a bully, pure and simple. She struck him from her mind. "How was it for you down there? They wouldn't give me enough water to keep a buzzard-wasp alive."
Toph sipped her tea and related a place that Katara was quite sure she had never been. Where she had had chains and degradation and perpetual twilight, Toph had all the hot baths she wanted and a maid available any time she needed assistance. The guards set to watch her seemed to treat her more as a temperamental baby sister than a true threat, and often stayed to play games and keep her occupied. She even remarked that the cinnamon biscuits were her favorite.
Katara crunched down on her own biscuit, scowling. "Huh. Imagine that."
"Hey, I can't help it that I was raised to exude a certain charm and culture a bumpkin like you couldn't possibly manage." The smile vanished from her face a moment later as she went on softly. "I guess I have to thank my parents for something after all. If they hadn't been so touchy about my hobbies, I never would have gotten good at dissembling to please them."
Katara patted her hand where it rested on the bed, but Toph snatched up her fingers in a tight grip.
"We don't have a lot of time left," she said in the same low tone, "and there are things I need to tell you. I can see."
"Your eyes? How-"
"No, dummy, I'm blind. It's the metal." A tiny smile crept across her face. "I can see on this ship because of the metal. Like, right now, Appa is rolling over in the hold. Snoozles is on the observation tower with your jerk boyfriend."
"He is not my-"
"And Princess Crazy Times is scaring the pants off one of her maids." Her fingers clenched harder around Katara's and she grinned. "Sometimes, there's so much going on that I can't keep it all straight, but I can pick stuff out in bits and flashes. It's because metal is just tiny pieces of earth, purified and arranged. It's different from stone, but it's still earth."
Katara sat forward, her heart in her throat. "That's incredible, Toph!" She modified her tone, shooting a glance back at Roshu, who was watching them narrowly now. "Er, that you can sympathize with your parents that way! Really amazing growth!" She dropped her voice down to a softer register. "So if it's earth, you can bend it!"
"Theoretically, yeah."
"Okay… Why am I getting the feeling that there's a problem, here?"
Toph shrugged and sighed, seeming to fight the words out. Finally, she hung her head. "Because I haven't actually tried."
"Well that's okay! If you just need time alone-"
"It's not that I haven't had the opportunity." She gritted her teeth and jerked her hand away. "It's that I'm scared, alright? This is just like the sandbending, only worse. What if I do it wrong? I could sink the ship. I could kill you and everyone else and myself to boot, this time around."
Bewildered, Katara watched the Bare-Knuckle Earthbending Champ curl in on herself like a wounded tigerdillo. At length, she put her arms around the younger girl and pulled her stiff body to her chest. "Oh, Toph. Sometimes accidents just happen. You can't let the fear of failing stop you from even trying."
Toph hugged her back suddenly. Her breath tickled Katara's ear. "I almost squashed you like a bug and you're over it just like that. I don't know whether to be relieved or mad that I spent all this time being scared that you'd never forgive me."
"I'd settle for you becoming freakishly obsessed with our escape," Katara whispered.
"Already there, Sweetness."
Lieutenant Roshu stepped into the doorway, blocking part of the cool natural light. "Time's up. Break it up and say your goodbyes."
"We'll talk tomorrow," Katara said as she helped Toph to her feet. She guided the earthbender back through the sitting room to the hall, feeling even sillier now that she knew the truth.
"I would very much like that," Toph said as she allowed her hand to be transferred to Kaiji's gauntleted one. "See you tomorrow, Katara."
Katara took a step out into the hall to watch her go, but was pulled up short by her chain. When she looked back, she found Lieutenant Roshu holding the loose end and watching her with a hard light in his eye. She nearly rolled hers. "Do you mind?"
"The Prince commanded that you remain in this room, and you will not set foot out of it until either his order changes or I'm dead."
Katara really did roll her eyes as she clanked back toward the table. "There. I'm clearly not trying to escape. Happy? Will you let go now?"
Roshu waited until the maid scurried out with the remaining tea things before he dropped the chain. Katara chafed under his unwavering scowl.
She held out her arms to either side. "What is your problem? Do you seriously think I would try to escape now, without my brother?"
The big lieutenant did not speak, but he paused in his march toward his post by the door to turn an intense glower on her, instead. It was as if she had called his mother an ugly name. Katara huffed and stalked into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
In privacy, her anger drained away. Even her troubling thoughts of Zuko seemed further from her mind. She laid down on her bed and stared up at the lamp light glimmering on the ceiling. A hard smile creased her face. Tomorrow night, between the full moon and Toph bending metal, they wouldn't just escape this cursed ship; they would leave it a sinking ruin in their wake.
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"I always thought it was interesting how the ocean takes on the color of the sky," Sokka said at length, folding his arms across his chest and shrugging in the same movement as he peered off into the distance. "Blue on clear days, grey on days like this. Do you imagine it's just the shininess of the water, or maybe-?"
"Shut up." Zuko stared out across the choppy sea to the west, not really seeing the grey waves. He stood with his prisoner on the observation deck, high above the rest of the ship and all the unsolvable problems he would have to face down there. Some days, the cool wind helped to still his extreme moods. Today was not one of those days, in no small part because of the incessant talking of his captive.
He had taken Sokka out of the suite so that he couldn't plot with Katara and Toph. Logically, he knew the two girls would have no trouble scheming on their own, but at least this way Sokka wouldn't be contributing directly while they were all together. The only other arrangement Zuko had considered was sitting in on the meeting himself, but he had quickly dismissed that; he wouldn't be able to sit across the table from Katara for half an hour and not say something.
Even standing here with her brother, he was having trouble not saying something.
It wasn't right to leave Katara in the dark, or that Azula meant to take advantage of her concern for a baby that didn't even exist to keep her under control. It wasn't right or honorable. On his way to bed the previous night, Zuko had made it all the way to Katara's bedroom door and raised a fist to knock before he really stopped to think. It wasn't right, and it wasn't honorable, but Azula had made a good point about Katara using the pregnancy to pursue power.
His scowl deepened. She had started this thing, with her threats and scheming. She had brought this on herself.
Sokka let out an exasperated breath. "Look, I'm sorry I'm a normal human being who gets bored after standing around in the wind for a couple hours. I thought we were up here to fight, and frankly I'd really rather do that than hang out in broody silence."
Zuko turned his scowl on the other man. "It's hardly been one hour and you haven't been silent for a solid minute of it. All you do is talk and joke."
"Then give me a sword," Sokka said darkly. His amiable smile had faded to reveal the irritation beneath.
Zuko glared back and thought about it. In truth, he longed for the clash of steel and the test of strength and skill, and the resultant diversion from his unhappy thoughts. This wasn't a good time, though, not with the serious matters plaguing his mind. He turned back to the sea. "I'll pass."
Sokka threw up his hands with a frustrated noise, then braced them on his hips. "What is your problem lately? Last night you throw a fit at Katara and now you drag me out here to - what? - punish me for not letting you two kill each other?"
"Is that what she told you happened?" Zuko sneered. "That I threw a fit like some child? Did she even tell you what she-"
"No," Sokka snapped, holding up both palms like a barrier, "I don't want to know what she did or said, I don't care. I'm her brother, that puts me on her side automatically."
Zuko stared at him for a second and couldn't help his eyebrow tipping back in stunned disbelief. Then he turned away again. It was so easy for Katara. She and her brother were always on each other's side, and she could always trust Sokka to be there with her best interests at heart. They had no idea how lucky they were, how crazy it was to rely on someone just because of shared blood.
Azula always lies.
There was a rustle and a sigh and Sokka came to lean against the rail beside him. "Look, I told you I like you despite everything you've done, and I do, but I can't just sit back and watch you make Katara miserable and then pretend to see things your way. I get that you're going through a lot, but you can't take it out on her. A man doesn't do that."
Zuko snapped his eyes to Sokka's profile, acutely reminded of something Iroh had once said. A powerful ache filled him as he longed for his uncle - his advice, his presence, even his stupid tea. Iroh would know just what to do about this situation. Zuko swallowed the feeling down deeper, buried it under a layer of bitterness. "I wasn't taking my anger out on her. We had a disagreement."
Sokka fixed him with a searching stare. "Right. A disagreement about what?"
Zuko almost didn't tell him. It wasn't any of Sokka's business, really, and if Katara hadn't told him, maybe she didn't want him to know. But the urge to defend himself was stronger than Zuko might have expected. "About her passing sensitive information to Azula. Like my- Like… her pregnancy."
Sokka sucked in a breath. "That is serious... but I really don't think Katara would knowingly tell her anything."
"Yeah, well, you don't always have to tell Azula things before she figures them out. I warned Katara. She should have been prepared."
"If Azula is so perceptive, maybe you're being too hard on her."
"You don't get it," Zuko spat. "When we reach the Fire Court, the two of you are going to have to deal with being in front of dozens of nobles who'll see right through you, who'll know intimate things about you before ever laying eyes on you."
Sokka hesitated and Zuko saw the reason in his eyes, burning for just an instant before it was smoothed away. His temper flared.
"Oh yeah," he sneered, "you still think the two of you are going to get away before we reach the Fire Nation. Don't be stupid, Sokka. It would take a miracle to get you and all your friends off this ship."
Sokka's eyes widened, then narrowed. "I let Katara handle the hopey-inspirational side of things. I'm mostly the logistics guy."
"When we make landfall, you're going to be the imprisoned-for-life guy," Zuko snarled. He was so angry, and it bubbled up in him, spewing out as thoughtless words. He gestured sharply as he spoke. "And Katara will either end up rotting in a separate prison or chained and paraded around the capital like some kind of despised criminal. She'll be lucky if she isn't stoned to death by an angry mob! Oh, but maybe, if she's really cooperative, the Fire Lord will let me keep her as a concubine! A concubine! She'll just love that, won't she, Sokka!"
For a moment, Sokka's fists trembled at his sides and he breathed hard through his nose. When he spoke, though, his voice was level if tense. "Are you trying to trick me into attacking you in front of your guards, Zuko? Is this some plan to get me out of the way?" He straightened and folded his arms over his chest. "Because it's not going to work."
Zuko glanced toward the men standing guard on the door to the control room. They were far off enough not to hear all of what was said, but perhaps a fair bit of what was shouted. When he looked back at Sokka, he rammed a hand through his hair and heaved an enormous breath, consciously lowering his voice. "No. It's nothing like that, just forget it."
He turned away to glare back out on the sea, but Sokka only stepped closer. "No, seriously, what was that? Are you really so mad at her that you want her to suffer like that?"
"No! How could you think that?"
"Then what is it, Zuko? What's your problem?"
Zuko met his glower and doubled it for intensity. "You're my problem, Sokka. You and your sister. If you two weren't here, things would be so much simpler."
"Then maybe," Sokka said with exaggerated simplicity, "you should let us go."
The words rang in Zuko's head like hopeful bells, bells quickly dampened. "I- I can't do that."
Sokka scoffed. "You won't, is what you mean."
"Fine. I won't. You're both prisoners of the Fire Nation. To release you would be treason."
"Yeah, because that's been a real hurdle for you in the past, hasn't it?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means," Sokka bit out, "that committing treason wasn't such a big deal to you when you were still trying to get under my sister's parka, but now that you pretty much own us both, you don't feel like it's worth the risk anymore. Especially with Daddy Fire Lord about to hand her to you like some trophy for being the world's biggest ice-hole."
Zuko stared back at him for one quivering second, then burst into motion. He grabbed the front of Sokka's fine red tunic and yanked him so close that their noses almost touched. "Speak to me that way one more time, and I'll put you in the infirmary for the rest of this voyage."
"Oh, was I not showing the proper respect?" Sokka ignored the grip on his tunic and just scowled right back. "I'm so sorry, Prince Zuko. Your royal highness of course has the right to degrade and dishonor my sister all you want since she's just a simple peasant girl and you're such a great and mighty conqueror-"
"I'm warning you, Sokka..."
"-you treacherous savage! You said you loved her and now-"
"You think I like this? You think I want to drag her through all that shame? I have no choice, Sokka! She's left me with no choice! None!"
"Let us go! Set the two of us adrift in a life boat, I don't care, just let me and my sister go!"
"Rrh!" Zuko gritted his teeth and shoved Sokka away, whirling to clamp his hands around the rail. Sokka steadied beside him and then stood there, waiting with his arms still crossed. Finally, Zuko broke the stifling silence. "If you really were peasants, I could let you go, but you're the children of the chief of the Southern Water Tribe. I can't even just let one of you go, because you are next in line for the chieftaincy and Katara is a renowned warrior. Even Toph is a member of a powerful Earth Kingdom family. If I let any one of you go, I would return to the Fire Nation with only a fraction of the victory Azula has already claimed in messages she's sent ahead by hawk." He turned just his head to glare into Sokka's scowling face. "So no, I don't have a choice. Not when releasing you equates to failure and weakness in my father's eyes."
Sokka's expression didn't change. He didn't even blink. "That's all that matters to you, isn't it? What your father sees when he looks at you."
Zuko glared for a beat longer, then scowled out at the sea. His hands were hot on the steel rail, but he hardly noticed that. "You can't understand this. Your father is not like mine."
"If by that you mean a murderous psychopath, then yes, I'd have to agree."
"Hakoda is as much a killer as my father, Sokka. He's a warrior. It's implicit." His fingers tightened around the rail as he considered his next words, as he considered the man he'd come to hate. "But for all his hardness, he still loves you and Katara. When I saw him talking to you, there was warmth and tenderness in him. Even when we reached the island..."
Zuko hesitated, a sharp pain lancing through his chest. He didn't want to think about this. It came so dangerously close to a truth he couldn't bear to face. "Even though he was furious, Hakoda had me locked up instead of killing me outright. My father... is different."
Sokka was silent for a long moment, then turned to place his own hands on the rail. "To be fair, I think Dad probably preferred the idea of killing you. I was pretty adamant, though. I figured all you needed was a chance and you wouldn't turn out to be all bad in the long run," he said with a hint of the old wryness in his voice. Then he sighed. "And I guess I wasn't completely wrong. You still haven't told Katara about what we did to you, have you?"
"I... would rather she didn't know."
Sokka coughed, but it sounded almost like a short, unwilling laugh. Zuko felt a strange ache in his chest. "So," Sokka said at length, "since you doing the right thing is out, which of those exciting options are you planning to choose?"
"I don't get to choose, Sokka. Katara won't stop fighting me, and no one who watched her for ten minutes would believe she was defeated enough to be kept as a concubine." Zuko shook his head. "At this rate, she'll end up imprisoned in a special waterbender facility."
"What about the baby?"
Zuko flinched as he remembered again. There was no baby. There would never be a baby, not with Katara. Not now.
But Sokka could not know that, because Sokka knowing was as good as Katara knowing. Zuko's brow knit and he ducked his head. "I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that between now and last night, when you accused Katara of not wanting the baby as much as you do, you've decided your kid's fate doesn't matter?"
"That's not what I said," Zuko said through gritted teeth. "Just drop it."
"But you don't know what will happen to your kid, and that doesn't bother you."
Zuko snapped upright, meeting Sokka's challenging stare with a snarl. "Guards! Take- Prince Sokka back to my sitting room."
Sokka didn't even blink as the guards came and began leading him away. "Just so you know? Avoiding the issue won't make it go away, buddy."
The final word was spat, more a curse than any profanity he could have used. Zuko turned back to the west and tried to ignore it, but the word dug in deep under his skin.
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AN: Little closing note to just put this out there - I started a ! All my fanfiction will always be available for free, but if you like my writing and would like to help me out with a monthly contribution, I'm at . com(slash)GinPennies?ty=h
Thanks for reading!
