1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I have created many characters, but sadly, none of them reside in the world of Avatar. Nickelodeon owns this awesome show, not me.

Author Notes: This year for the first time, I participated in Zutara week over on DeviantArt. But most of my pieces ended up coming from the same universe as this fanfic. So as Zutara week draws to a close, I'd like to start finally posting this fic in its entirely, working the Zutara week pieces in as they fit. I hope you enjoy it.

==Prologue==

Zuko had done a lot of stupid things in his life. He would admit that to anyone. His father and uncle both chalked it up to his compulsive nature whenever he got too emotional. His father called it weakness, while Uncle Iroh called it strength. But whichever it was, Zuko knew one thing. In the middle of an agni kai with Azula was the worst time to get emotional.

He'd kept focused throughout most of the battle. He'd even goaded Azula to prepare a lightning strike against him, despite the fact that he was clearly in a defensive position, ready to direct it back at her. A picture of calm. Then, her gaze shifted. The fear surged through him as he realized that Azula no longer aimed at him. His body had already started to react even before he turned to confirm it was Katara in danger.

The best solution would've been to try to push her out of the way. But she was so far behind him, and his hand was right there. If he reached out and touched the lightning, maybe he could move it away from her. Sure his position wasn't the best, but if he didn't try-

"No!" Zuko cried out. His fingers reached out and touched the white light headed straight for her. He wasn't ready. His stance was completely wrong. The lightning was supposed to feel like a stream of energy, flowing from one hand to the other. The second Azula's attack hit him, however, he felt the heat of it scatter into his body, breaking it like a fragile glass ball. Desperately, he moved his other hand, willing away whatever energy he could. A small amount seemed to obey him. But his arms didn't seem to listen the way he wanted, and rest of the energy wracked his body as he fell to the ground.

What frightened Zuko wasn't the fall, though. It was the fact that he could barely feel it. He rolled over purely from the momentum, and his arms fell uselessly to his sides.

_Katara's still in danger,_ a voice screamed in his head. _I have to get up to help her. _But no matter how he struggled, he could only lift his head and flex his fingers. The rest of his body refused to obey.

Then the fear overpowered him again. This wasn't right. He should've been in terrible pain all over. But though his hands burned and his head felt like it could split it two, he felt nothing else. He should've been able to struggle to his feet, yet couldn't move. The lightning had done something to him. Not killed him. But broken him nonetheless.

Zuko heard the clash of Katara and Azula's battle, but struggled to follow it completely. The two warriors kept ducking in and out of sight. Katara had lured Azula over to a storm drain. A source of water. Maybe she could win after all.

_Please let her do it, _Zuko begged. _I can't defend her like this. _He winced, the fear spreading like a disease through his mind. _So help me, what's wrong with my body? I can't do anything!_

In his moment of panic, he was barely conscious of a voice calling out to him. "Zuko! Zuko, are you okay?"


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: Thanks for the favs/reviews so far. (I have corrected the rather embarrassing typo in the prologue. Lesson learned - don't proofread at 5am.) I also confess that Katara's bending improves quickly during this chapter. I fall back on the excuse that if Toph can invent metalbending on the spur of the moment, Katara can have her moment of awesome too.

==Chapter 1==

Aang rushed back to the Fire Nation palace, excitement burning in his veins as Toph and Sokka hurried behind him. He couldn't believe he'd managed to defeat Ozai, and not by killing him as everyone had insisted, but by bending his powers themselves. When Aang arrived at the front steps, however, his eyes widened in shock at the sight before him. Azula was chained up, but Zuko lay sprawled out on the ground. His body didn't move. Only his eyes fluttering open and a low murmur indicated he was still conscious.

Katara ran over to him, eyes burning, shaking his side.

"Zuko! Zuko, are you okay?"

He gasped and coughed. "I... I don't know," he said. "My body feels numb."

"That's because you got struck by lightning, you idiot!" Katara yelled. "What were you thinking? You can't redirect something that wasn't aimed at you!"

"I think I just saved your life," he said. "Azula would've burnt you to a crisp if I hadn't stepped in!"

"I could've defended myself just fine!"

Aang sighed and shook his head. Even with one of them flat on his back, those two still fought like crazy.

"Guys, that's enough," he said, walking up to Katara's side. Always the peacemaker. He gave a brief (extremely brief) summary of his battle, mostly skipping to the part where he won. Katara's eyes widened in shock at his news. If Zuko was surprised, however, he didn't show it.

"Anyway, we've all been through a lot ," Aang said. "We should make sure the palace is secure. Can you stand, Zuko?"

Without waiting for a reply, Katara bent down and slung Zuko's right arm over her shoulder. He grunted angrily at the assistance, but the rest of his body leaned against her like a rag doll.

"Hey, I need some help," she said.

Zuko winced. "I-I don't think I can move."

"What are you talking about?" Katara gasped. "You told me you just felt numb."

"Yeah, as in I can't move!"

"Both of you, please!" Aang begged. "Lay him back down, Katara. If he's injured, we're just going to him worse by moving him around."

"I know that," she said defensively.

She removed the sash around her waist, folding it up to make a pillow before letting Zuko lay down again. Then, she called forth the water from her side, letting it gather around her former enemy's neck, and back, and chest.

"Nothing broken," she said. "The lightening must've messed with your nerves, somehow."

She concentrated her power, willing the water to mend what was broken. But after sitting in her trance for several minutes, nothing seemed to change, and Katara's hands began to tremble with frustration.

Aang finally stopped her. "Katara, it's enough," he said. "You're going to hurt yourself doing that much. And I don't think the water is going to heal anymore."

Katara's eyes started to well up with tears. "But... he got injured because of me. I have to do something."

"You can stop crying all over me," Zuko muttered. No one listened to him.

"You did everything you could," Aang told her. "And besides, it'll heal on its own in a bit right?" Katara didn't answer. That worried him. "Right?"

Katara shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "I've never dealt with this kind of injury before."

From her hunched over position in the corner, Azula began to giggle maniacally.

"Oh, this is a riot," she said. "Some ruler you'll be, big brother. Can't even sit up on the throne, let alone firebend."

Zuko gritted his teeth. Apparently he could still firebend, at least a little bit, as sparks began to fly from his hand.

"Zuko, you've got to calm down," Aang said. "You'll injure yourself more." Even as he spoke, Aang suddenly realized that Zuko wasn't the only one he had to calm down. Katara practically looked like she was on fire too.

"You," she said through gritted teeth. "You say another word and I'll..."

Azula started to laugh, however her voice was quickly cut off. Her mouth closed seemingly against her will and she fell with her face down in the dirt.

Aang felt his blood run cold. Katara was controlling Azula, without a full moon. "Katara, stop! You'll hurt her!"

Azula gasped for breath, her lips starting to turn blue. Her eyes fluttered as she struggled to maintain consciousness.

"I said that's enough!" A blast of air flew in Katara's face, breaking her concentration. Azula took a huge gaps of air and passed out, the color returning to her lips, her breathing becoming normal.

Katara recoiled, as if unaware of what she'd just done. Her hands shook furiously. "Aang," she said. "I'm sorry. I'm not sure what was happening. I-"

"You wanted to kill her, and your body followed suit," Aang said. "That's obvious enough."

Katara hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry. She just got me so angry, and I- I snapped."

"Clearly," Zuko said. Finally everyone looked at him. "But my sister's got a point. How am I supposed to take over for my father when I'm like this? The position will fall back to Azula."

The thought made Aang feel ill. Azula might've been the only person worse to rule than Ozai. Toph, who'd been quiet the whole time, suddenly spoke up. "Hey, maybe water sprite over here can fake it for you."

"Huh?"

"Y'know. She can use people like puppets anyway, so maybe she can fake that you're not injured until you get better."

"That's not funny, Toph!" Katara snapped.

Zuko seemed to agree. "Come up with a more practical solution, please."

Toph shrugged. She gave no indication she had been joking, but let the matter drop. The suggestion, however, gave Katara an idea of her own.

"Wait a minute. Aang, how did you say you beat Ozai, again?"

"I... I took his power away from him," Aang replied. "Why?"

"So you can take away people's powers when you're in the avatar state?"

Aang shrugged. "I don't know. It's not exactly something I've tried before now. Why?"

Katara bit her lip. "Could you switch two people's powers?"

It didn't take a genius to see where she was going. "Are you crazy?" Toph asked.

"It's the only solution that makes sense," Katara said. "If Zuko could bloodbend, he could move on his own until his body heals itself."

"If I could bloodbend, I'd be a waterbender," he said. "Which would be kind of awkward if I'm supposed to running the _Fire_ Nation."

"Plus, I have no idea if I can even exchange powers or not," Aang said. "I agree with Toph and Zuko. It's a really bad idea. We'll find another way to help him."

"We don't have another way," Katara insisted. Aang had never seen her so worked up about something before. She was extremely determined to go through with this.

"It's not permanent anyway," she said, turning to Zuko this time. "Once you're healed, Aang can reverse our powers back again."

"I still don't know if I can actually do that," Aang said. "Why aren't you paying attention to me?"

"Listen, the Fire Nation needs a strong leader right now, and Zuko is that leader. If he's not established on the throne, everything will go into chaos."

No one could argue with her on that point. Aang sighed and shook his head.

"All right, look. I'll go into the avatar state. And if... if it feels like I can exchange your powers without hurting either of you , I'll give it a try. But if I'm not completely positive I can do it, then it's no, and we're not discussing it anymore, understand?"

Katara nodded.

"Hey, wait a second!" Sokka snapped. "You're not actually thinking of going through with this, are you?"

"Don't I get any say in this?" Zuko yelled.

Katara put her hands on her hips, ignoring her brother completely. "Fine. What's your solution?"

Zuko stuttered. "I... that is... I don't know!" He grunted with frustration. "Fine," he said. "Try it then. Odds are it won't work, anyway."

Aang stretched his arms to try and relax, taking a step forward to Zuko and Katara. Sokka stepped in front of him.

"Aang, may I repeat my opinion that this is possibly the worst idea Katara has ever had and you're humoring it?"

"It's not the worst idea," Aang said. "There was that time she decided to help flood a river and almost drowned a bunch of villagers because she was in love with Jet."

"Can we please not bring up my past stupidities?" Katara asked.

"Zuko's right too," Aang said. "If the Fire Nation can't put itself back together now, everything we did was pointless. We need to try." With no more discussion on it, Aang took a deep breath and placed one hand on Katara's forehead and the other on Zuko's.

"No promises," he reminded them.

Katara nodded. "Right," she whispered. "No promises." With that, Aang's arrow tattoos began to glow.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: The new cover art was drawn by the amazing YunaSakura over at DeviantArt. (used with permission, ect. ect.) The link to her page is in my profile, if you want to see more of her work. Thanks for reading so far!

==Chapter 2==

Aang's eyes fluttered open. He tried to remember what happened in the past few moments. It felt like Appa had run headlong into him. He stared around him to try and orient himself, figure out what was going on. Zuko was lying on his back on the ground. That looked familiar enough. But now Katara was laying unconscious next to him.

"Aang, are you okay?" That was Sokka's voice. Dizzy and blurry-eyed, Aang turned in the direction of his friend's call and saw a fuzzy blue figure moving quickly his direction. "Are you okay?" the figure asked again.

"I-I think so," Aang answered slowly.

In response, something hit him sharply across the face. It felt like an open palm. "You said you weren't going to try it if you couldn't do it safely!" he yelled. "What did you do my sister, Aang?"

"I..." Aang's vision finally started coming into focus. It was Sokka, all right. But Aang had never seen him so angry. His eyes were wet, his body shaking, his face red with anger.

"If you hurt her just to try and help Zuko-"

"Water boy, relax," Toph said calmly. She was kneeling on the ground, her fingers scraping the dirt. "I can feel their bodies moving. They're both okay. Or at least, they're both alive."

Sokka rushed to Katara's side. Delicately he lifted her head. "Katara!" he called "Katara!'" He looked helplessly in Aang's direction. "Why won't she wake up?"

Before Aang could respond, Sokka suddenly recoiled. "Ow," she said. Then, putting a hand to Katara's forehead, his eyes widened with fear.

"Aang, she's burning with a fever. What do we do?"

Next to them, Zuko began to stir, though he did not open his eyes. "What's happened?" he muttered.

"Aang was an idiot and tried to switch your powers," Sokka snapped at him. "And now my sister's got a fever like I've never felt before."

Before Zuko could reply, Katara's body jolted. Her eyes flew open for just a split second before closing again. They were a brilliant shade of amber.

"No... way..." Sokka whispered. "You actually did it?"

Zuko muttered something again. Sokka was tempted to ignore him, but then again, it might be important.

"What's that?"

"Fire," he repeated. "There's too much fire in her system. It can happen to a bender who's just discovered their powers. She needs to get it out."

Aang held Katara's shoulders. "Katara, listen to me," he said firmly. "I need you to firebend. Do you understand me?"

Her body continued to shake and her skin still felt wickedly hot.

"I-I can't..." she said. "It's too cold, I can't..."

"It's your fever," Aang said. "Come on, Katara. Try it." He held his hand forward, flexing his fingers, showing her how to do it.

Her eyes fluttered open again and slowly she reached her hand forward in the same motion. Her shaking fingers bent inward, and at first, nothing seemed to happen. Just as Aang thought she'd misunderstood and started to demonstrate again, a blast of fire flew from her hand. Sokka and Toph tumbled out of the way, and Aang nearly got his clothes singed.

Katara closed her eyes again, sweating and taking heavy breaths. Sokka reached over and felt her forehead again. "She's still warm," he said. "But it feels much better."

Next to her, Zuko coughed. Everyone turned around to notice for the first time that his eyes were open, and like Katara's, they had changed color as well.

"That was... some impressive bending," Zuko said.

"Well, yeah, it's your powers," Sokka retorted. He took a closer look at Zuko's face. "Okay, blue eyes on you look creepy."

"Interesting," Aang muttered. So it seemed that he had not only exchanged Zuko and Katara's bending abilities, he had transferred all their memories of moves and techniques as well. Which meant...

"Zuko, can you use bloodbending now?"

Zuko laughed, which caused him to cough again. "Of course, why didn't I think of that? Now that you've used your magic avatar powers, executing an advanced waterbending technique should be no trouble at all for me."

Aang sighed, not exactly in the mood for Zuko's sarcasm. "Come on, just try it," he said. "I might not be as good as Katara, but I know a little bit. Your body is full of water. Concentrate on it and move it to your will."

Zuko sighed, but nevertheless, closed his eyes and began to concentrate. Katara's healing seemed to have at least given him some control over his hands. Aang watched anxiously as his fingers quivered and pinched together, like someone picking blades of grass. Then slowly, very slowly, he began to raise his arm a few inches off the ground.

"That's it, you're doing it!" Aang said excitedly. Zuko gritted his teeth and his arm fell down again.

"It's less difficult when you're quiet."

Aang lowered his head in a silent apology. He got overexcited, he couldn't help it. Zuko sighed, seeming to understand. "It feels like I'm trying to lift a lead weight," he said. "It's not like moving my muscles at all. It's completely foreign."

"Like learning how to see through earthbending," Toph said. "It took me a while, but once I got the hang of it, it's not even something I think about anymore. Like hearing or smelling – it just comes to me."

"Good for you," Zuko muttered. "That only took you how many years of practice? I've got to master this as soon as possible."

Toph grunted, blowing her bangs out of her face. They immediately fell back down again. "Well, when's the next full moon? You'll probably be a lot better then."

"In two nights," Aang said. "In the meantime, we've got to make sure the palace is secure."

"Easy enough with Azula out," Katara said.

"Says the person who can walk," Zuko muttered.

"Well," Aang said thoughtfully. "One of us can stay here with you while the rest go in."

The group paused and all eyes fell to one person. Sokka scowled.

"Me? Seriously? Why am I the one who always gets stuck with these things?"


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: I re-wrote a large chunk of this chapter for Zutara week. Momentous was the theme, and I felt like I kind of glossed over Zuko's coronation in the first draft of this fic. Hopefully I've improved it, but as always, I'd love to know what everyone thinks. Thanks for reading!

==Chapter 3==

Mai hated her. Katara just knew it. She disliked the fact that Katara was in the palace to begin with. When she found out that her boyfriend had gotten hit with lightning trying to protect Katara, she'd upgraded that dislike to mild fury. Then, when she found out that Zuko's precious firebending skills were temporarily on loan to Katara, her expression read only one thing: ready to kill. And Katara couldn't think of a thing to say to make things any better. For now, she just watched her back whenever Mai was in the room.

"You're still stumbling," she heard Mai say in a scolding sort of voice.

Outside, the moon was high and all around the palace, crowds of people had gathered to watch Prince Zuko's coronation. The tension in the waiting room was unbearable. Zuko leaned on Mai's outstretched arm with both hands, taking one clumsy step after another. The idea was supposed to be that he and Mai would walk arm-in-arm down the coronation hall. To all the guests, it would probably look regal. Maybe even a little romantic. Only the six of them would know the real reason. After Azula's attack, Zuko's newfound bloodbending skills remained the sole reason he could get his body to move. And, unfortunately, he wasn't terribly good even at that.

"You think I'm trying to screw this up?" he asked. "This is supposed to be the most momentous occasion of my life. You think I want to spend it tripping over myself?"

Mai sighed. "Well, want to or not, you're going to look like a fool if you don't get it together."

Katara watched the two of them from across the room. Mai's words were harsh, but Katara didn't blame her. Both she and Zuko were exhausted and completely stressed out. They'd been practicing all with hardly any rest for two days straight and still Zuko's steps were clumsy and faltering at best. It was almost like he got worse the longer they tried.

"Um, if it helps," Katara said quietly. Mai shot her a look of pure hatred, but she didn't care. Mai couldn't offer advice, and she could. "Waterbending… it's a very freeflowing sort of thing. When I concentrate too hard, the water's movements get all jagged and less controlled." She stood and walked up to the royal couple. "I know it's a huge day for you and this is hard, but I think if you relax, the bloodbending will come easier to you."

Zuko nodded. Even smiled at her. "Thank you, I'll try that."

"We should head out soon," Aang said, after peeking out behind the curtain for about the fifteenth time. "Now, you're totally sure that there's no coronation rule where you have to give some sort of grand firebending display or anything like that?"

Zuko rolled his eyes. "For the final time, no," he replied as Mai pinned his hair. "And will you please stop checking out there? People have probably thought it's starting five times over already."

Aang lowered his head and walked a safe distance away from the curtain. "Sorry," he said. "I'm just excited. I've never even seen a coronation before, never mind being a part of one."

"Congratulations," Zuko muttered. Katara tried to smile at Aang enthusiasm, but still found herself nervously smoothing the red silk dress that hugged her waist. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe they should've waited longer to have the coronation. But the quicker Zuko was established on the throne, the quicker the Fire Nation could start pulling itself back together. She had to keep that in mind.

Mai cleared her throat, looking sharply in Katara's direction. At first, she pretended not to notice. Mai coughed loudly, and finally Katara looked up. Mai nodded off to the side, motioning away from Zuko's earshot. Katara cocked her head in confusion, but followed along behind her nonetheless.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Fine," Mai said. "But I've been wondering. What exactly is your... relationship with Zuko?"

Katara blushed. "Relationship? None! What makes you think we've got a relationship?"

Mai raised her eyebrows like she didn't quite believe it. "Nothing," she said calmly. "I was just curious, is all."

Outside, they could hear a blast of instruments silencing the crowd. "Okay, people, let's move it!" Sokka yelled. "We've got a coronation to start!" Mai immediately broke off the awkward conversation with Katara and hurried to Zuko's side. Katara went and stood next to Aang, who had his hand ready on the curtain.

"It's time," he said to Zuko. "Are you ready?"

Zuko nodded and straightened up. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Then he put one arm to the side and gripped Mai's arm with the other. Gently, he placed one foot in front of the other. His steps were better, but they weren't good either. _People are going to notice,_ Katara thought. _There's no way no one sees that._ Still, she couldn't do anything more than she had, so she stood to the side, ready to let the coronation proceed as it would. The moment Mai came past her, though, Katara felt an elbow jab into her side.

"Take his other arm," Mai hissed. Katara blinked, not sure if she heard right. Maybe Mai just wanted Katara in a good position to stab her.

"I don't know if I should…"

"Don't be an idiot. I can't do this alone. He needs you."

Katara nodded and without another word, she came up to Zuko's free arm and wrapped it around her own. He didn't object. In fact, she could've sworn she heard him breathe a sigh of relief. His pace became smooth, and the curtain parted before them. Katara tried her best to look as serious and regal as Mai did, but in truth, her heart pounded. Walking out in front of all those people, she never felt more nervous in her life. Still, she would be here for Zuko, whatever he needed. She felt sure of it.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: Longer chapter, as requested. They won't all be this length, but I'll try to get one in there now and again. Hopefully I didn't slow the action too much in the process. :)

==Chapter 4==

The coronation ceremony itself became mostly a blur. The crowd loomed before Zuko, a mass of faces from Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and even Water Tribe. He spoke to them as openly as he could, and shared with them his vision for a brighter future. Though, for the life of him, if someone would've asked him later what all he said, he wouldn't have been able to remember a word of it.

With the moon high in the sky, the coronation ended, and Zuko retired to the palace. Out in the garden, he found Iroh sipping a mug of tea.

"Congratulations, your highness," Iroh said with a chuckle. "Looks like all your dreams are finally falling into place, eh?"

Zuko leaned against the wall. After bloodbending his body all day, he wasn't sure how much more of it he could do. Especially without Mai and Katara, who'd both gone to their rooms for the night, he felt unsteady on his feet.

"You look tired," Iroh observed.

Zuko smiled. "Yeah, well, I'm still pretty weak," he said. "Azula hit me pretty hard."

"Yes, I know," Iroh said, setting the tea aside. He had a knowing look in his eye, like he was fully aware of everything his nephew was thinking and just playing a game trying to get him to drag it out.

"What was it you decided to do with her again?"

"She's imprisoned for now until the avatar removes her powers," he said. "When we've tried to get near her, she's gone a bit ballistic."

"I see. Why don't you come sit next to me and rest?" It was a welcome invitation, and Zuko took him up on it, keeping one hand on the wall to steady himself. Sitting he could handle. His hand flicked and he lowered himself down, feeling the smooth stone wall against the back of his head and neck.

"Tell me again, exactly how she injured you?" Iroh said.

Zuko narrowed his eyes. So, it was going to be a game of twenty questions now? He was smarter than that, he wouldn't lose so easily. The less people knew about his condition, the safer everything was. "She shot me with lightning," he summarized.

"And you redirected it?"

"Sort of. I was caught off guard. I started to redirect it, but I wasn't completely successful. Katara... the Water Tribe girl, helped heal my wounds, but her abilities only work so well."

Iroh nodded. "That seems a valid explanation," he said, in a tone that indicated the complete opposite. "Well, then, I guess I should let our new leader get his rest, and I'll get back to my tea shop."

Zuko smiled. His uncle was probably still suspicious, no doubt there, but it was clear he had nothing but love and concern for Zuko. Couldn't hold anything against him for that.

Once Iroh was gone, Zuko sat resting for a while longer. He kept meaning to make his way back to his room, but the cool night air felt so refreshing. Suddenly, though, he became aware of someone walking along the top of the stone wall behind him. He whirled around, trying to think of the best way to defend himself, when he saw Toph taking a seat on the wall's edge.

"Hey there, your majesty," she said.

He lowered his fists and let out a huge sigh of relief. "Don't scare me like that."

"Aw, I'm sorry. Your Fire Nation capital is just so big and amazing, it's easy for a poor little Earth Kingdom girl like me to get lost." She leaned back and kicked her feet into the air. "Say, would you demonstrate some of that nifty firebending you people here do?" she asked.

Zuko narrowed his eyes. If she meant to mock him, but he didn't get the joke. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It was supposed to make a point," Toph said, slipping down from her perch on the wall. "The other option was to start earthbending in your face and see how you defended yourself, but I didn't think you'd appreciate that."

"Your concern for my well-being overwhelms me."

"Don't mention it. Look, my point is that it's not too smart of you to go walking around with no way to firebend. You need a back up. Someone who knows what's going on and can do it for you in a pinch."

"The only people who could fill that role are Aang and Katara," he said. "And the avatar's a little bit busy… well, being the avatar."

"Well, looks like you and Katara are going to be spending a lot of time together, then." She pulled herself back up onto the wall and started to walk back the way she'd come. "Oh, and for whatever it's worth, you _are_ walking better. Even if it doesn't feel like it."

#

Zuko did not take Toph's advice lightly. Mostly because he had no good argument against it. It had been almost a week since the coronation, and Katara had rarely left his side. Today, they sat down by the pond. The large tree at Zuko's back provided the perfect amount of shade, and Katara had suggested that the fresh air would do him some good. She'd been right. Zuko closed the scroll he'd been reading, set it down in the grass, and picked up a new one from the pile. It wasn't exciting work, he'd readily admit that. Still, he wished Katara wouldn't keep reminding him just how boring it was.

"Geez, don't you need a royal mental break or something?" she asked.

Zuko took a extra long pause before answering, just to annoy her. "The Fire Nation is vast and complicated. It's my job to know every detail about it. My father was twice my age when he took the throne."

"Yeah. And someone's totally going to stop you on the street and quiz you on," she looked over his shoulder, "the price of cabbages five years ago."

"I'm studying the fluctuating market prices of common goods."

Katara groaned and leaned back against the tree again. For at least five minutes, she didn't say anything. Then, she went at it again full force. "Seriously, just tell your uncle what's going on. Then you'll have a firebender to hang out with you who actually knows something about Fire Nation history."

Zuko's grip on the scroll tightened. If he could actually firebend right now, it probably would've gone up in flames. "I was hoping you'd understand walking up to my uncle and saying, 'Hey, could you follow me around just in case I have to firebend in front of anybody?" doesn't sit well with me."

Katara lowered her head, looking embarrassed, so he'd probably made his point. Still, he continued the mock conversation, mimicking Iroh's deep, easygoing tone: "'Why, Zuko, why ever would you need me to do that?'"

"'Oh, no reason, Uncle. Just because I thought the general public wouldn't approve of me being a _waterbender_.'"

He said the last word in a hushed tone, just in case, and Katara turned bright red. "Okay, okay, you made your point," she muttered. Then she flicked her fingers in front of her, a small flame appearing in the air for a just a second. If Zuko hadn't been so irritated at her, he might've laughed. He'd done the exact same thing as a kid whenever he got bored with his mother's lessons.

Zuko went back to his scroll, though in truth, he had to admit the price of cabbages did not make for exciting reading. And Katara continued to entertain herself by tossing little flames into the air. It distracted him in no end, but he couldn't ask her to stop either. It brought back so many memories he didn't want to ignore just yet.

Just then, one of Katara's flames got just a tad too close to the open jar of ink sitting in the tall grass by his feet. While this shouldn't have been a problem in theory, the liquid inside suddenly caught fire and an orange flame flickered inside the jar's rim. Zuko pulled back as Katara yelped in surprise.

"Who filled the ink jars?" he demanded.

"I think it was Sokka."

"Your brother can't tell the difference between ink and lamp oil?"

"Oh, excuse me if we aren't versed in Fire Nation menial labor!"

"I don't think it's too much to ask him to do something simple without setting the palace grounds on fire!"

"If you're such a great leader, why don't you stop yelling at me and do something about this!" She jabbed her finger in the jar's direction, were the flame came dangerously close to setting the dry grass alight. Face hot with embarrassment,

Zuko started to reach down to pick the jar up, only to jerk his hand back when he got near.

"Ow, that's hot!" Katara rolled her eyes, which Zuko tried to ignore. Instead, he motioned at the pond. A ball of water floated out and positioned itself around the jar. Then he used the water to lift the jar and carry it over to the pond. The jar was impressively buoyant and when he sat it on the water's surface, it floated like a little glowing boat.

"Oh, wow," Katara breathed. "Zuko, that's actually really pretty."

Zuko watched as the little jar bobbed its way back and forth in the gentle water, carrying its golden flame with it. It did look kind of nice. Not that he was ever one for aesthetics.

"Hey, go ask a servant to bring us more ink, would you?"

She did and one of the maids came back with ten jars of it. Once he was sure they were alone again, Zuko lay each jar of the pond's surface, commanding the water to hold them in place while Katara set a small flame atop each one. Then, he moved the water currents to arrange the jars in all sorts of patterns - a swirl, a crescent, a teardrop. Katara kept making suggestions and he kept trying to meet each challenge. He barely noticed the sky above them turning to dusk or the first couple stars starting to come out. They had, quite by accident, discovered their own personal set of stars right on top of the pond. The pathetic thing was that while Katara stood there in wonder at the whole thing, all Zuko could think about was just how much he'd lost.


	6. Chapter 5

==Chapter 5==

The day Azula's powers were removed was not a day that Zuko had any intention to miss, no matter how lousy he was feeling. Toph, Katara, and Sokka joined in his excitement, practically counting the minutes as they waited for Aang to arrive in the dungeon. Mai had refused to come herself. Although Azula deserved what she was getting, she agreed with that much, she had a difficult time watching her former friend suffer like she undoubtedly would. Zuko didn't blame her for sitting out. If he had ever gotten along with his sister at any point in his life, he might've felt some sympathy for her now. As it was, however, she drained out all of his sympathy a long, long time ago.

Aang's avatar garb was similar to his usual monk robes, but finer material, embroidered with the symbols of all the four nations. He said it looked ridiculous and he liked his old clothes better.

"It makes the people feel united," Zuko had explained. "Just wear it. It's not hurting you or anything."

The group covered their faces to avoid breathing in the potent fumes that kept Azula subdued along with her chains. Her wild hair was matted up hopelessly as she leaned over, arms bound behind her back, sobbing and wailing. At least two days worth of food sat off to the side untouched.

"Azula," Zuko said in his most commanding voice. "Look up at me."

She did so. At first, her eyes were bloodshot, insane with despair. Yet when they fell upon Zuko, he saw a bit of the old Azula again. That conniving, plotting expression that always told him she was one step ahead flooded onto her face.

"How…?" she asked. "How are you walking?"

"By putting one foot in front of the other. I picked it up in toddlerhood. You know, that wonderful time of my life before you were born."

Toph and Sokka snorted behind him at this, but Katara elbowed him in the side and Aang gave him a condescending, "That's not what we're here for," sort of look. Azula didn't react to his mocking at all. Instead, she continued her intense stare, first at his feet, then on his face.

"I saw that Water Tribe brat try to heal you and fail. The girl who healed the avatar from _my_ lightning strike couldn't help you. So how…?"

Now her gaze fell to Katara. Zuko felt a bead of sweat crawling down his face. For once in his life, he had been relieved to have his scar - unless someone stood reasonably close, spotting his blue eyes wasn't easy. Especially when he'd been going out of his way to avoid eye contact with anyone who didn't know his secret. Katara, on the other hand…

Zuko's hand flexed as he stepped between Azula and Katara. This didn't ease his nerves one bit. Azula examined his hand as much as she had his face.

"This conversation is over," he said, trying to sound as authoritative as possible. "We've got other business here."

Azula smiled her usual cat-like grin. "Of course we do. So, Zuzu, what do you want with me?"

"You know very well what I want," he replied. "For crimes against the other three nations, your punishment has been decided. The avatar will remove your firebending powers. After your time in prison is complete, you will be released and confined to a restricted area of the palace." He gritted his teeth. "It's more than you deserve, you should know that."

Azula laughed. "Why not execute me? Isn't that what you normally do with war prisoners?"

"Avatar Aang is in charge of keeping the peace between the Fire Nation and the other nations. Your punishment is his decision."

Another hideous laugh. "You're a coward, brother! You always were! You're too scared to get a little blood on your hands, so you're blaming the decision on the pacifist avatar. I knew you were weak! I always knew it!"

Zuko held himself back from attacking her. His temptation was to fire blast her, but that wasn't going to end well, even if he could do it. He'd already decided how to deal with this. Best to let Aang go forward and not think about it anymore.

He unlocked the door to her cell. Aang stepped cautiously in, clearly ready to counter if she tried to breathe a blast of fire in his direction. She did no such thing, however, merely lowered her head back down and started sobbing.

"Please don't do this to me!" she begged. "I'd rather be executed than humiliated like this! Stop being so cowardly and just kill me!"

"You know I can't do that," Aang said calmly. "You'll find a way to live without your firebending. Start over-"

She sobbed louder. "Don't you understand? My firebending is all I have! If you take that away, what reason do I have to go on living?"

Zuko saw the hesitation in Aang first, he was sure of it, but Sokka got the words out before he did.

"Aang! Don't listen to her. She's just trying to mess with you! Take her bending away now!"

Aang's hand was shaking. Not a good sign. What was it he had said? That if he didn't have complete concentration, the energybending could go awry? He could injure both people involved. He'd been able to take the powers of Ozai against his will because of his own determination and strength. If Azula made him falter on those, then this could be a much more dangerous act than defeating her father.

Aang knelt down next to her. "Listen," he said calmly. "I'll do what I can, all right? I have to make sure you're not a threat to this nation anymore. If I can do that without removing your powers completely-"

"Aang, that's not what we discussed," Zuko said sharply. "Azula's dangerous. You have to remove them completely. "

"I had to do that for your father because of his authority," Aang said. "Azula doesn't have any authority here anymore. She's just a helpless prisoner."

Azula put on the most pathetic face she could, an act that irritated Zuko to no end.

"I was an exiled prince and look where I've gotten," Zuko argued. "If she even has an ounce of power, she's-"

"Your highness," Aang said, in a tone more serious and formal than Zuko could ever remember. "You said you were putting this decision on my shoulders. If you're taking that authority away from me, please tell me now. Otherwise, I have to act the way I feel is right."

Dang it, stupid Aang putting the ball in his court like that. He'd told his people he'd be trusting the avatar. This was pretty early on in the game to go against that.

"Fine," he said. "Do what you think is best, Aang. But please remember what I told you."

Aang smiled childishly now, like a kid who'd just won a clean victory at Pai Shō.

"Thanks, Zuko." He walked up to Azula's side. She still crouched over, whimpering as tears streamed down her face. Aang closed his eyes, slipping into the avatar state. Only this time, not only his tattoos glowed. His entire body gave off a soft bluish-white aura. Zuko remembered it vaguely. The state in which Aang would energybend.

Slowly, Aang reached down and touched Azula's forehead.


	7. Chapter 6

==Chapter 6==

Zuko had several reasons to be irritated. First and foremost, against all his experience and arguments, Aang had decided to leave Azula with some of her firebending. Not much, he assured everyone, barely anything at all. Even the slightest sliver, Zuko thought, and she was just as dangerous as when she was at her full power.

The second reason was that Mai had really been giving him the cold shoulder. Not that he'd expected anything else, the way he'd avoided her and yet let Katara follow him everywhere. He wondered constantly if the whole reason he'd refused to let Mai in on his secret wasn't to protect the Fire Nation, but to protect his own pride.

And now, to top everything off, Iroh had been acting strange lately. There was no doubt about that. In his mind, Zuko liked to imagine that it was just his uncle being his usual oddball self, but somehow, he knew better. Iroh could tell he was hiding something and was going to be determined to find out what. Zuko just never imagined exactly how conniving his uncle could be when he put his mind to it.

"Ow!" There was a loud clang as something fell over. Iroh generally came in several times a week to let everyone try his latest recipes before he tried them on customers. (Zuko's attendants had mixed feelings about that.) Lately, it seemed, he'd been coming in every day.

Zuko turned to see what the crash was. His uncle knelt down on the ground, his teapot turned over with a dull green liquid spilled out over the carpet. The metal pot's base was bright red with heat, and Iroh grasped his hand, wincing as he bent over.

"Oo, my hand! My hand! That really hurts!"

Zuko grasped the throne's arm to steady himself for a moment before kneeling down next to his uncle.

"Let me see," he said with a sigh.

Iroh relinquished his grip and allowed Zuko to examine the injury. It wasn't pretty, already the skin was peeling away under the burn. It would probably get infected and scar if not dealt with quickly.

"Come on, Uncle Iroh, since when are you this clumsy?" Zuko muttered. He glanced over at the few attendants in the room and ordered them out. They bowed and slipped away silently. Except for one that Zuko ordered to bring him a bowl of cold water. The attendant obeyed, and then she too slipped out of sight.

"It must be my hands getting all old and shaky," Iroh theorized as he dipped his injured hands in the cold water, wincing again.

"Yeah right," Zuko muttered. He looked at the injury again. It wasn't going to get any better with just some cold water. It needed some serious healing. It needed...

Zuko scowled. He could've cared less that his attendants thought he was odd for keeping his distance from them. He could even tolerate Mai thinking he was a complete jerk. But to let his uncle, who'd always defended him, sustain an injury that he knew perfectly well how to heal? It wasn't an option.

"Uncle, hold still for a moment," he said, holding up Iroh's hand.

"What?" Iroh asked. "What are you planning to do?"

"Just be quiet for a minute," Zuko snapped. He raised his hand over the water. It felt much more familiar now than it did a few weeks ago when he'd first become a waterbender. It still wasn't as comfortable as the fire, it was harder to deal with, but nevertheless, he could manipulate it.

A blob of water rested over Iroh's burned hands. It emitted a soft blue glow, and the skin that had begun to blister on Iroh's hand became smooth and uninjured.

Iroh's eyes widened in surprise, but somehow the surprise in his voice sounded less than genuine. He had a smug smile on his face.

"Zuko! Where did you pick up this little trick?"

"Oh, don't start," Zuko muttered. "You knew something was up right from the beginning."

The smile on Iroh's face grew into a grin. "Well, the change in your eye color did give a bit of a hint. But you haven't explained what happened exactly."

Zuko pulled the water back into the dish. "It's a long story. Maybe I'll have time for it later."

The next voice that spoke was neither Iroh's nor his own, but it drove fear through his spine. "Oh, but come now, brother, we've got plenty of time now for you to explain."

Zuko whirled around. Apparently the attendants had not left him as alone as he thought. And now, standing in their midst, surrounded by a pack of guards, was Azula. Her face sneered in triumph as she turned to face the same crowd of palace staff.

"How did you get out on the dungeon?" Zuko demanded and he and Iroh quickly got to their feet. Azula ignored him.

"You see? It's just like I said. Zuko has betrayed the Fire Nation by taking on the powers of a waterbender!"

A murmur went over the group. Clearly some of them were more skeptical than others. This was good, Zuko thought. It meant that Azula had lured many of them here out of curiosity, and they might not be traitors if steered in the right direction.

"But how is that even possible?" one of the guards asked. "I've never heard of any bender changing powers."

Azula looked annoyed, but kept her cool. "The avatar, of course. Don't you see? If he has the power to take away my father's bending, couldn't he have the power to change Zuko's?"

Iroh stood to speak. "May I ask you, Azula, even if what you say is possible, what reason you think the avatar could possibly have for doing such a thing?"

Azula hesitated. Clearly, this wasn't going in the direction she'd hoped. Before she could come up with a good answer, Zuko heard a voice calling out from behind the crowd.

"That was me!"

The guards turned and made a path for the person who had spoken. Katara walked past them and into the room, standing next to Iroh.

"The waterbending you just saw wasn't Zuko. It was me. I've been... practicing an advanced technique that allows me to bend water from another room. I can see how this would cause some confusion." She made a polite bow to show her apology. Some impressive quick thinking on her part, Zuko observed. Katara had been present at the coronation. Everyone in the palace knew of her waterbending skills. She must've heard just enough to know she had to cover for him.

Even better, the crowd was now starting to turn on Azula, anger and shame written all over their faces. Zuko prepared to give a forgiving speech about how clever Azula's trickery could be, planning to be particularly harsh on whoever had been manipulated into letting Azula out of her cell. However, he had little time to compose. A line of fire flew straight toward himself, Katara, and Iroh.


	8. Chapter 7

_A/N: This will be my last update for about two weeks. Sorry, I'm on vacation and that includes the Internet. Also, I am aware that the whole issue with Zuko's mother is supposed to be officially addressed in the upcoming The Search comic. I just happened to write this fic way before I knew that. _

==Chapter 7==

At first, Zuko was unconcerned. His uncle could defend them perfectly fine. However, Katara reacted first. More from panic than planning, by the look on her face. As the flames headed straight for her, she held out her arm, catching the fire's power and changing its course to slam harmlessly into the wall. It didn't cause nearly so much damage as Zuko expected. A reflection perhaps, of Azula's weaker powers, though clearly, they weren't weakened enough.

Azula stood surprised at first, but then returned to her gleeful state. "A waterbender manipulating flames?" she asked. "That looks more like firebending to me. Also," she tossed her hair to the side, "I thought the benders of the Water Tribe had blue eyes, not the golden eyes of the Fire Nation?"

A flurry of murmurs arose from the group. Katara lowered her gaze, but given the fury with which she'd been staring at Azula only moments before, she didn't expect it to do any good. The damage was done.

"Clearly my brother has asked the avatar to swap his powers with those of the Water Tribe girl," Azula went on. "An act of open defiance against our country. How can we trust someone like that to rule us?"

Zuko felt fear course through his veins as echoing voices floated through the crowd:

"We can't trust him."

"How could he do this?"

Zuko felt the shame of banishment creeping, surrounding him again, at the time when he should've been most able to stop it. Several of the guards quickly advanced. He motioned for the water he'd used to heal his uncle to come up next to him, while Katara and Iroh's hands glowed with orange flames.

Azula, however, did not react. "Are you so sure you want to attack me?" she asked. Then, glaring at Zuko, she added on, "Especially you, brother. And when I have such interesting information for you."

Zuko shoved his arm forward and the water shot off like an arrow. Azula easily sidestepped it.

"Don't mess with me!" Zuko said.

"It's hardly messing with you." Azula smiled. "You see, unlike you, I actually know how to talk to Dad to get the info I want." Her eyes narrowed as her grin widened. "I know where Mom is."

For a moment, Zuko thought his heart stopped. Then a voice seemed to chant in his head, _Azula always lies. Azula always lies._

"I don't believe you!" he shouted, his hands starting to shake. The guards took a step closer, now within distance to grab him whenever they chose. Iroh and Katara stood unmoving, both looking at Zuko to determine their next moves.

Before anybody could act, however, a low vibration sounded throughout the room. Suddenly, several of the guards blocking the entrance way were thrown backwards as the ground beneath them jolted and curved.

"Thought it sounded like a scuffle up here," Toph's voice called out. She rushed into the room, followed by Aang, Mai, and Sokka. Then she turned to face Azula. "Didn't someone lock you up or something? You're really annoying." Even three more enemies in the room, however, did not throw off Azula's piercing grin. She flicked her fingers, just slightly, barely noticeable. The guards closest to Katara and Zuko moved in and grabbed them, pulling their hands behind their backs.

"Use your feet!" Zuko called out to Katara. She reacted almost instantly. Straightening her constrained arms, Katara pushed her feet down as hard as she could, slamming onto the man's toes. She then twisted herself enough to create a small flame at the man's feet. He jumped back in surprise, loosening his grip enough for her to break free. With full use of her body, she sent a much larger flame in his direction and he staggered away, heading for the safety of the crowd.

Zuko, unfortunately, didn't fare so well. The guard who grabbed him was a bit more clever, holding Zuko's body still with one huge arm and using his free hand to put a dagger to Zuko's throat. Zuko gasped and tried to move, but the blade pressed stronger against his skin, and his arms were far too weak to put up any resistance beyond that.

"Everyone freeze!" Azula ordered. "Unless you want to see your new leader in a pile of blood."

Zuko gritted his teeth. No, this couldn't be happening. He was supposed to be able to hold his own, not be the weakling that Azula used to manipulate everyone. How could he let this happen?

Aang gave up the fight first, immediately throwing his hands up in surrender. Katara, Mai, and Iroh followed suit, and this time two guards came up to restrain each of them instead of one. Toph growled under her breath before finally doing the same.

Azula looked around, anger dancing in her eyes. "Where's the last one?" she demanded. The guards looked at each other in confusion.

"The boy from the water tribe! Where is he?" Azula demanded. Again, more blank stares. Somehow, with everyone focused on the benders, Sokka had managed to sneak out. Not bad.

"Find him – search the palace!" Azula yelled. Three guards ran obediently off. Azula scoffed as they left. She knew better than to let a loose string like Sokka go, but she wasn't going to let it ruin her moment of victory either. She walked first up to Toph.

"I hear you made quite a mess of a fire nation airship. A _metal_ fire nation air ship. That's a pretty neat trick. But don't worry. I'm making sure your prison is especially tailored." Toph spit at her. Unfortunately, she missed.

Azula barely glanced at Katara. "Unfortunately for you, I know very well how to deal with firebenders. You'll be getting your own... private room." Katara scowled.

Next, Azula spoke to the guard restraining Zuko, who'd now been surrounded by several of his comrades. "Take my brother to the dungeon, and I want twice as many guards around him as everyone else. Keep anything away from him that has water, especially plants. He eats and drinks only when someone's restraining him, am I clear?"

"Yes, princess!" came the reply, though they did not yet move.

Finally, Azula faced Aang. "Now, you've got a bit of a dilemma. You want to give people the impression that this is a smooth transition to a new era. That my brother is a capable leader who's got everything under control. Having me publicly seize control of the throne now would be, I daresay, disastrous for you, am I right?"

Aang said nothing. He only glared at her, breaking her gaze once or twice to see if there was any weakness in the guard holding Zuko. But the blade was so close that even the slightest movement could mean a slice through Zuko's throat. Aang clearly wasn't willing to take that risk.

"So here's my proposal," Azula said. "As you so kindly pointed out while I was imprisoned, Zuko has been working together with you to keep the peace. That means that you can speak for him. So I'm going to let my little takeover here remain a secret for the time being, and you're going to do everything you can to maintain the image that Zuko is still running the show. Am I clear?"

Aang still remained silent at first, which flared up Azula's temper. She raised her hand and slapped the avatar across the face. "I said, am I clear?"

"Yes," Aang said through gritted teeth. "You're perfectly clear." Grinning in victory, Azula motioned for the guard holding Zuko to carry out her orders and take him to the dungeon. Zuko hung his head in humiliation. His weakness had gotten them into this situation – emotionally, he had not stood up to Aang and demanded to have all Azula's powers removed. Physically, he couldn't defend himself. He didn't need his father telling him how much of a failure he was now. That was clear all on its own.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

_a/n: Sorry for being away so long. Going through some big family changes right now (all good ones, don't worry!) I'll be able to post four more chapters including this one, then I'm going to have to take another long break. I appreciate all the reviews and the wonderful patience. Thank you!_

Zuko swallowed, feeling the dry edges of his throat stick together. He couldn't remember being this thirsty, not since the time he'd struck out on his own, away from Iroh. Azula knew how to deal with firebenders for sure, but she seemed pretty adept at making a waterbender just as miserable.

Zuko shifted his arms slightly, but with his hands chained and his body dehydrated, he could barely get any movement out of them. His mind was a blur, every time he tried to think of a way of escape, he came up empty. For all he could see, Azula had won.

One of the four guards assigned to watch him turned around at the sound of the chains moving. He narrowed his eyes at his prisoner, looking like was about to shout something, when suddenly the man's face turned... well, a bit green. He raised his hand and wiped his forehead, which had started to sweat. Then he stumbled backwards, barely catching himself as he fell to the ground, out like a light. The other three barely had time to notice what was happening before they too fell victim to the same mysterious ailment.

Zuko held his breath. Was there some sort of poison in the air? Where was it coming from? Why hadn't it affected him yet?

Before he could come to any conclusions, however, Zuko heard the dungeon door slowly creak open and a light set of footsteps began to descend. A familiar figure rounded the corner.

"Sokka!" Zuko exclaimed. Well, it wasn't really exclaiming, he barely had a voice, it came out as more of a hoarse whisper. Sokka shushed him anyway and walked up to the prison door, fumbling with a set of keys.

"How did you...?" Zuko asked in shock, staring at the four unconscious guards on the floor.

Sokka smirked, though not as much as he normally did when he was explaining how genius his plans were. "The thing is, Zuko, growing up in the fire nation, you don't learn as much about the natural world as the people of the water tribe. It's true, there are plants that make a great stinkbomb. But there's also the varieties that can knock you right out if you eat it. I snuck some into the guards' lunch."

"Not bad," Zuko muttered.

"I snuck in to see Katara already," whispered Sokka. "I wanted to try and spring her out, but the lock was complicated, and..." He stopped and looked at the ground. "And she insisted on me getting you out first."

"What?" Zuko asked, blushing a bit. "Why?"

"Hey, don't get any weird ideas. Your life's in the most danger. If Azula kills Katara, she loses her bargaining chip with Aang. But if she kills you, she loses her only competition for the throne. Of course, if she kills Katara, _I'll_ kill you, but you know…" His sentence trailed off as he began working on the chains on Zuko's wrists.

"Hey, you have any advice for, like, using firebending to keep your body warm?"

Zuko strained to look Sokka in the face, but the odd angle made it difficult. "What do you mean?"

"They've got Katara in something like that cooler we saw at the Boiling Rock. She seemed okay when I talked to her, but later, when I overheard her talking to the guard, she sounded really quiet and weak. Like she was just putting on a brave front for me."

Sokka finally managed to release Zuko's arms and began working on his legs next. His tone was a forced calm – he wanted nothing more than to be with his sister, helping her.

Zuko growled. "There's a technique she knows, but if she didn't start using it right away, it's not going to work now. Her bending will be gone for at least few days even if you got her out of there right this minute."

Sokka scowled as he freed Zuko's left leg and went for the right. "Guess even knowing all your techniques doesn't help her much if she doesn't realize when to use them," he said sharply. The last of the chains fell off and Zuko shakily got to his feet. He could feel the water beginning to circulate in his body, increasing his control. Sokka handed him a waterskin, which he guzzled like a greedy child until there wasn't a drop left in it.

"Come on," he said, wiping his mouth. "Let's go get her out."

He started for the open prison door, but Sokka put out his hand to stop him. "No. You leave, and I'll get her out. The only reason I came here first was because she insisted. If you go with me, it kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it?"

He reached down on the floor and picked up something Zuko hadn't noticed before. Some pile of fabric that he shoved into Zuko's hands.

"Here. It's an extra set of Water Tribe clothes. Katara thinks you'll be able to sneak around the capital easier if everyone thinks you're a representative from the South Pole."

As Zuko stared at the gift, trying to concoct some other reason for why he should stay, Sokka turned and headed back up the stairs. The heavy prison door closed behind him, but didn't lock. Standing alone in the silence, Zuko sighed and began changing. Maybe Sokka and Katara had a point. He had to find Azula's weakness to defeat her, and he couldn't do that from inside a dungeon. In fact, as he thought over exactly who might know Azula's weaknesses, his best bet for success lay a long way from here.

Zuko crept up the stairs and slowly eased the door open. Azula had screwed up concentrating all his guards so close to him. Once outside the dungeon, sneaking out of the palace was quite literally child's play, something he'd mastered long ago. If he'd actually stayed in his room every time Ozai told him to when he was younger, he might've died of boredom.

Outside it was already night. _Right_, Zuko thought. _I should've guessed as much. I can't move nearly this well during the day._ The moon looked to be about halfway full. Zuko decided to count his blessings and continued to put as much distance between himself and the palace. He wasn't running, wasn't really sure he could run, but if he wanted to blend into the crowd, he couldn't look like he was in a hurry. No one seemed to think anything of him in the Water Tribe attire, but then, not many people had a huge scar covering half their face either. He had to stay cautious.

Guilt ate away at Zuko as he kept moving. Was it really okay to run away like this? Wasn't it his duty to stay and protect his country? What would happen to everything with Azula in charge? And with Aang pretending that all her orders came from Zuko, would he even be welcomed when he returned?

"Hey, wait up!"

The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite believe it. Yet when he turned his head, there she was, hurrying in his direction.

_Dang it, Katara, you're going to blow my cover, _Zuko thought. But, no, Katara was more clever than that. She stood next to Zuko, but looked in the opposite direction.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were someone I knew," she said to a tall guy standing nearby.

"Quite all right," the tall man muttered, and the crowd lost their interest in both of them, moving about their business. Katara winked at Zuko, as if to acknowledge that yes, she did realize how clever she was, and no, he didn't have to break his act to tell her so.

Zuko rolled his eyes. He didn't plan to have anyone come along with him, let alone her. Still, it felt good to have a friend by his side.

"How'd you get out of the cooler?" he asked when they'd reached a more secluded area. "Sokka said you sounded wiped out."

"Huh? Sokka overheard that?" She groaned and massaged her forehead. "Oh, no. I was hamming it up for the guard so Azula would think everything was working. I didn't mean for it to work on Sokka too." Her face suddenly took on a fierce look of determination. "All right, you'd better have a plan to get your sorry self back on that throne before my brother has a mental breakdown. Where are we headed?"

Zuko scoffed. It wasn't like it was _his_ fault that Sokka had misunderstood. And anyway, Azula was probably going to notice sooner rather than later that Katara's cell was empty.

"In the general direction of Kyoshi Island," he answered. "But hopefully we don't have to go that far."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Katara nodded down yet another alleyway, and Zuko followed her. They'd been approaching some sort of market, and the mass of people looked near impossible to work through. It had been three days since they left the palace, and so far, no one had given them any trouble, not even any strange looks. It seemed to be as Sokka had said, everyone just assumed he was a visitor from the Water Tribe. Zuko brushed his hands against the side of an old building. Small side streets had both good and bad points. On one hand, it kept them away from large crowds and Zuko figured that even in disguise, the less people who saw him, the better. On the other, if anyone did want to corner them, a quiet alley would be the ideal place to do it.

"Hello there, your majesty." The voice sent chills down Zuko's spine. He hadn't even realized someone was behind them until the man's breath was at his neck.

Katara impressively kept her wits about her and put on a convincing insulted face.

"Excuse me?" she said. "My friend Rokka here is just a representative from the Southern Water Tribe. He's not a leader there." Before she had the chance to move forward, however, another man darted out from behind a corner and stood right at her back. Neither had drawn weapons, Zuko noted. Of course, if they were skilled firebenders, they hardly needed to.

"Your sister's looking for you," the man next to Zuko whispered. "Now, if you'll just come quietly with us, this doesn't have to get ugly."

_Right, because walking right into Azula's death trap isn't ugly. _He had a plan worked out in his head for how this would work. First, it was best to get their guards down by going along with them a little ways. Then he could find the perfect opening when their backs were turned, and…

…and Katara really didn't follow the same strategy. With a flick of her hand, she'd already thrown a small flame in their enemies' direction, causing them to jump back and ready themselves for a full-on battle. Katara readied a firebending stance herself, pausing just a moment to narrow her eyes at Zuko.

"A little help would be nice," she said.

_A little subtlety would've been nice too. _Zuko said nothing and readied an attack position as well, but couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. Katara glared at him like he was the stupidest person ever born.

"You didn't bring any water with you?"

"Hey, I'm not used to having to carry anything to use my bending, all right?" he snapped back. "I mean, can you imagine having to carry a torch with you everywhere or hope you get lucky enough to be standing near a lantern when you firebend? How stupid would that be?"

"Then find some water, you idiot!"

Zuko looked desperately around him. At the end of the alleyway, he saw a small fountain. Perfect, he thought. Or rather, it would've been perfect if he could call the water from this far a distance. Cursing himself for his stupidity, Zuko ran towards the water source, with one of the men on his tail and the other fighting off Katara.

Their enemies were both firebenders, for sure. Zuko could feel the hot flames behind him, each barely missing an arm or a leg. His mind was a blur as he focused on nothing but running, nothing but getting within range of the water. At last, he reached out his hand and a large jet of water came towards him so fast, he had to sidestep it. It pummeled the guy chasing him and knocked him unconscious to the ground. An excellent start. He turned to see how Katara was faring and saw it wasn't nearly as well.

The other firebender had Katara pinned to the ground, his hand inches from her face. She turned her head this way and that to avoid him, but getting out of his grip proved impossible. And no matter how fast Zuko ran, he could not get there fast enough. He watched in horror as the flames erupted from the man's fingertips, flowing onto Katara's exposed skin. Her scream pierced Zuko's ears. He felt a moment of fear, then his body was overcome with rage. He ran forward, barely aware of his own actions. The water from the nearby fountain lept up and came alongside him, split, and hardened into a blade of ice in each hand. He thrust the weapons forward, catching the man off-guard.

He jumped back, barely missing being wounded on the arm. Katara, still gasping in pain, had enough of her wits about her to roll away from danger. Covering the injured side of her face with one hand, she threw a line of fire in the man's direction. Now outnumbered, he threw up his hands in surrender, and disappeared down the road.

Zuko's first intuition was to follow him, hunt him down and make him pay for the pain he'd caused. Then he heard Katara's voice, quiet, whimpering. She knelt down on the road, clutching her face and leaning over. Zuko ran to her side. Even with her fingers hiding most of the injury, he could tell it was bad. Gingerly, he tried to pull her hand aside.

"It... it hurts," Katara whispered.

"I know," Zuko said. "I know, but I need to see it."

Reluctantly, Katara moved her arm and Zuko saw her face in full view. Her right eye was swollen shut, the skin around it red and raw from the burn. The sight brought far too many memories to his mind. He heard his 13-year-old self crying for mercy and getting none of it. Instantly, the cold dagger in his hands melted into an orb of floating water. It rested on Katara's face and began to glow. Zuko concentrated all his energy into healing the injury. He could see the skin starting to heal, but only lightly. This wasn't working. Not as well as he needed it to. A bead of sweat dripped down Zuko's face as he concentrated harder. He had to heal her. He couldn't let it scar. Not Katara's beautiful face. He would restore it, even if it took hours, even if he had to spend all the energy he had.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Katara's eyes fluttered open. She tried to remember what had happened before she blacked out. Everything seemed unclear. She remembered a man recognizing Zuko, the fear that went through her. Then she remembered the same man attacking her.

"Wha-?" She sat up quickly, expecting a jolting pain, since that was the last memory she had before she passed out. But surprisingly, the pain was not there.

The room was dark. Katara stared around, trying to get her bearings. She was in a tent of some kind, a drab brown sort of fabric. Perhaps like something the water tribe hunters might construct on a trip, though of thinner material. The furnishings were minimal – some blankets and extra clothes in neat piles along the wall. A strange woman sat in the corner, rough dark hair down to her shoulders. She had a kind face, and her hands were folded on her lap. Upon seeing her patient awake, she smiled.

"How are you feeling, my dear? You were asleep for quite a while." Her voice sounded soft and nurturing.

Katara rubbed her head. She touched the side of her face. Last she recalled, it was pretty nasty there. Now she just felt the lightest line of raised skin above her cheek. Had her injury been just a dream? It'd felt so real.

"I'm... feeling fine," she heard herself muttered vaguely, still looking around. Then she spotted the one other person in the tent. He was laying down on a single tan blanket.

Zuko. Katara almost called out his name, then she remembered they were supposed to be in hiding. So she knelt down next to him and tucked a piece of hair behind his ear. She could see him breathing, but his body lay so still, and his skin looked unhealthy and pale.

"Is he…?" Katara started to say.

"He'll live," the woman said. "But he's very tired. Very tired." She walked up and pulled a blanket up to Zuko's shoulders, staring at him a good long while before she spoke again.

"This boy…" she said. Her voice had a distant sound to it, like her mind was lost somewhere else. She motioned to the side of her own face. "How did he get that mark?"

Katara swallowed. While she and Zuko had talked about fake names, they hadn't discussed what excuse Zuko would give for his scar. Katara didn't expect anyone to question it. Just some guy from the Southern Water Tribe who got on a firebender's bad side and paid for it. It wasn't like the firebenders had played nice with the Water Tribes these past few years.

"A firebender did it," Katara said clumsily. "During a raid on his village."

The woman nodded like she not only knew Katara was lying, but also like she knew the truth. "I've seen many people with scars," she said. "But most have them on arms or hands, because when a firebender attacked them, they shielded their faces." She put up her arms as if blocking an attack. "Like this."

"They attacked in his sleep," Katara said.

The woman cocked her head to the side, as if looking for a way to contradict Katara's story. Her face started to look less kind now. "His family… I can't imagine how they must've felt."

"I wouldn't know," Katara said, lying yet again. "We haven't been traveling together that long." This time, however, the woman didn't seem to notice her lie at all. Instead, she just kept staring at Zuko's face.

"If anyone did this to my child," she said quietly. "I'd kill them."

The voice sent chills down Katara's spine. She had no doubt that their hostess meant every word. She decided to refrain from any more talk that evening and get to sleep early. The sooner they got away from this woman, however kind her intentions, the safer the two of them would be.

#

Katara woke up early the next morning and already had everything packed and ready to go before either Zuko or their hostess woke up. She walked over and nudged him awake. To her great relief, he stirred right away. He still looked awful, pale and sleep-deprived, but it was a step above unconscious.

"What day is it?" Zuko asked, his voice groggy and unfocused.

"Huh?"

"The moon cycle… what day?"

Katara tried to remember what the sky had looked like before she fell asleep last night. Strange, without her waterbending, the movements of the moon weren't nearly as strong in her mind as they had been.

"It's waning, I know that," she said. "It's been getting thinner and thinner as we've travel."

"I thought so," Zuko mused. "It was so hard to heal you." He nodded towards Katara. "And I still didn't get it right, did I?"

Katara brought her hand up to her cheek and felt the faint scar under her eye. "That?" She tossed back her hair. "If I recall anything from that night, that firebender nearly burned half my face off. You healed all that." She smiled and suddenly the tent felt a lot quieter than it had a moment ago. She stared into Zuko's bright blue eyes. They almost looked natural on him, after all that traveling together. He was staring at her with such intensity that she couldn't help but wonder if he thought the same about her.

"Well," she said, clearing her throat. "We'd better get moving. I've packed everything we need." She leaned down and whispered, just in case their hostess was a light sleeper. "That woman who took us in. She seems nice and all, but I think she's a bit... unstable. We should leave right away."

"Um, yeah, about that," Zuko said. He spread his fingers apart, a shaky motion. "Unless that moon plans on re-appearing midday, I don't think I'm getting very far today."

Katara didn't like the sound of that. They couldn't stay in one place too long or they'd get caught. Plus, that woman who'd taken them in seriously creeped her out.

"I can move my hands a little," Zuko went on. "And I feel like I could waterbend perfectly fine. I just… can't get the bloodbending quite right."

That sounded promising. "So, can you walk normally then?"

Zuko laughed. "Katara, if I can feed myself today, I'll be impressed." The sound finally roused their hostess from her sleep, and she sat up groggily. Katara might've slapped Zuko if he wasn't so weak already. This woman already knew Zuko needed to recover, she didn't need to know how much.

"I'm so sorry, children," she said, rubbing her eyes and pulling the blankets awake. "I didn't realize you were awake already. Do you need something for breakfast?"

The moment Zuko saw her, his eyes widened. He turned his head to the side and made a coughing, gagging sort of sound. It was a bit melodramatic in Katara's opinion, but then again, she couldn't fault him for wanting to hide his face after what had happened the previous night.

"Is he sick?" the woman asked, stepping closer and reaching out a concerned hand.

"No, no, he's fine," Katara said quickly, rubbing Zuko's back. "But, yes, breakfast would be lovely. Thank you so much."

The woman stood there and gave a hard stare to both Katara and Zuko. Still, she nodded and exited the tent without an argument. Zuko wouldn't face Katara until she left.

"It's okay, you can cut the theatrics," Katara told him. Zuko finally turned to face her. He still looked very pale.

"Theatrics?" he asked, shaking his head. "Katara, did that woman act like she knew me? Did she say anything about me last night?"

"Um, she…" Katara wasn't too happy about admitting how bad a liar she'd felt like last night. "Well, she asked a lot about how you got your scar."

Zuko groaned.

"But, I made up a story for you," Katara went on. "See, you were asleep in your home in the Southern Water tribe, and then Fire Nation soldiers came and attacked you in your sleep, so you didn't have any chance to defend-"

"Katara, she knows you're lying. She knew who I was the second she found us."

Katara pouted a bit at this. "Hey, I know my deception skills aren't the best, but give me a little credit. It wasn't like I announced anything."

"No, no, it's got nothing to do with that," Zuko said. "She knows you're lying because she's my mother."


End file.
