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The Price of Peace	By : Looneyluna Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Het - Male/Female > Katara/Zuko Views: 19136 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Interlude Seventeen –

Moving through the lush vegetation of the Bei Fong family garden, Meng sighed. Tears welled in her eyes and she quickly blinked them back. She missed Aunt Wu…and Aang. She sat on a patch of soft grass and studied the stars. The cloud cover over the moon hid its light and cast most everything in darkness, making the stars brighter. Aunt Wu would have loved a night like this.

“You’re not a warrior! You’re…Sokka!” Toph’s outraged voice carried into the courtyard as the Earthbender stomped through the gardens. “I don’t know what you said to my father, but you need to…take back whatever you told him!”

“Toph,” Sokka’s voice followed hers.

“I mean it, Sokka,” she railed. “You’ve deliberately misled my father. He thinks your some mystical warrior that will protect me and the villagers.”

Meng shrank back as their faint shadows drew near her.

“Well, I am, and I will,” replied Sokka.

“You’re not mystical!” retorted Toph in a snappish manner. “You’re just a guy with a boomerang who –”

Meng gasped as she saw the shadows merge – the sight of them kissing making her slightly envious that Aang wasn’t with her. The sound of their breathing and moaning made her stomach do a funny lurch. She had only kissed Aang that once. His lips had been soft and surprisingly warm.

Their shadows broke apart and she could hear them breathing heavily.

“Take it back,” Toph sighed stubbornly, the shadow of her body doing little to extricate itself from Sokka’s male shadow.

The Earth Kingdom girl wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. She watched as the shadows intertwined, the male one dominating the feminine.

“No,” Sokka taunted, raining kisses along the Earthbender’s jaw line.

Meng frowned. Toph’s shadow looked terribly uncomfortable.

“Take. It. Back.” Toph’s clipped tone sounded dangerous and slow. There was a loud smash and the shadows separated abruptly, Sokka’s shadow flying a couple of feet into the air and landing on its ass.

Sinking deeper into the bushes, Meng stifled a giggle.

Sokka straightened, rubbing his butt as he stood up. “You like me,” he goaded.

“I like you about as much as I like a fungus on my foot, Water Boy!” retorted Toph angrily before she stomped away.

Sighing, Sokka watched her retreat. “Yeah, she likes me.”

“Maybe you should try giving her flowers,” Meng suggested quietly, still unwilling to reveal her presence.

“Oh…uh…oh…hi, Meng,” Sokka stuttered in embarrassment.

“That was very bold of you to kiss her like that,” she replied disapprovingly. “No wonder she knocked you down.”

“What!” He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “She was… I was… We were… Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Well…” She shoved the toe of her shoe into the grass. “Have you told her that you like her?”

Sokka started to pace back and forth. “She knows I like her. We’ve been friends since –”

“No,” Meng insisted, trying to help the clueless Water Tribe warrior. “Have you told her that you like like her?”

“Uh, no.” Sokka looked at the young Earth Kingdom girl as though she had grown horns. Actually, the way she wore her hair did make her look like she had horns.

“Well, maybe you should,” Meng said. “You should make your intentions clear. Ask permission from her father to court her. Woo her.”

He stared at the Earth Kingdom girl as she walked away. She was petite like Toph, but that is where the similarities ended. Whereas Meng was soft and genteel, Toph was abrasive and rude. Meng was younger – fifteen. Toph was older – almost eighteen.

“That’s it!” Sokka shouted, startling the nesting birds in the trees. “I’ll make my move on her birthday.”

--

Katara glared at the two Fire Nation soldiers as they warmed their hands over a fire. She shouldn’t be mad at them. After all, they didn’t do anything wrong. But she still resented them. They had been left by the Fire Lord to guard and protect her. They were a consolation gift of sorts. She bristled with anger every time she saw the two men. The Fire Lord had no right to consign them to such a dreary existence.

Her thought brought her up short. She had never considered her life dreary. It wasn’t. It is just that she had talked herself into becoming Zuko’s wife, only to be turned out on her ear. The humiliation stung. The ache of missing him thrummed constantly in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t have anything left of him…not even his child.

Her menses had come and gone. She had only her memories now. Zuko had been methodical and thorough. He was content to isolate himself – to face the dangers ahead alone. She had tried to follow him, but there had been no ships to take her. It wasn’t as if she could walk across the entire ocean.

She watched her father walk up to them and say something. They nodded and glanced in her direction. She could feel her father’s sorrowful gaze linger on her and she felt the familiar prickle of tears burn the back of her eyes.

He tried talking to her, but she wouldn’t listen. She didn’t know who she felt more betrayed by – her father or her husband.

--

“Please don’t send me away,” the dark-haired woman cried as she clung to her lover.

Iroh’s resolve did not waiver. Peeling her fingers from his uniform, he kissed them. “It is for your own safety.”

“Hui…” she sobbed, her tears flowing freely, as she referred to her son.

“He will follow in a week’s time, Jia Li.” He brushed each tear away, his resolve wavering. “You will be well taken care of.”

“I don’t want to be taken care of,” she railed, slapping his chest. “I want to be with you! Did I do something wrong? Did I displease you?”

Closing his eyes, Iroh pulled Jia Li against him, trapping her arms between them. “You please me more than you will ever know.” He felt her shudder against him. “Qiang will arrive soon. He is a formidable warrior – ruthless and cunning. Should Zuko and I fall, I want you far from here. Take this with you wherever you may go,” he instructed handing her a Pai Sho piece that resembled a lotus flower.

--

Watching the sunrise, Aang ran his hand along Appa’s forehead. “Wake up, buddy. It’s time to go.”

The sky bison growled his displeasure at being woken so early.

“I know, I know,” the Airbender soothed the beast. “We’ve got to get going. I need to let them know about Azula.”

Large brown eyes snapped open and Appa growled again, licking Aang with his large tongue. Standing up, the bison shook the last vestiges of sleep off and readied himself for the day.

Aang smiled as he watched the familiar routine. Appa arched his back and a great shudder rippled through his body. The bison sidled up to the stream and started drinking.

It was so quiet here, lending to the illusion that he was the only person for miles. He should be used to it by now. A comforting tingle coursed through his body, reminding him that he was no longer alone. He had Meng now.

--

Pacing the length of the room, Zuko waited. His patience had worn thin long ago. He was in seclusion, waiting for the moment when the threat to his throne arrived on his doorstep. The trap was set. It only had to be sprung.

He stopped next to the blazing fireplace and stared into the element that had shaped his life. His life. His duty. The two were interchangeable – different sides to the same coin. He awaited word from the two soldiers stationed at the South Pole. They were the best of their regiment, left behind to protect Katara.

They had been left with enough supplies to last them a year, complete with one courier pigeon. Zuko cursed and the fire flashed.

“I never should have touched her,” he reprimanded himself, cursing his own weakness, for even now he wanted to go to her and spirit her away from the trials and tribulations of his life.

--

TBC

A/N – Smooches to Moncaptian for constantly kicking my muse around and making her write the not-so-easy stuff. You rock!
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The Price of Peace