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The Wrong Target	By : DarthiaRevan Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Het - Male/Female > Katara/Zuko Views: 9737 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Avatar the Last Airbender belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. I do not own anything. I am not making any profit out of this.

Chapter List
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“What is power? Is it the ability to command vast armies? Is it to be seated on the throne of the world? No, that is not true power. True power comes from knowing who you are. And when faced with a choice, choosing and acting with hesitation. Ozai is a fool. But you Zuko, you are beautiful to me. A flower that sucks the life out of the weeds of this world.”

Kasui to Zuko, a month after joining her and her team.

The Wrong Target

General POV

Earth Kingdom

“No, please! Spare me! I will give you anything you want! Just don’t kill me!” The target begged the blackened robed man with the white and red mask.

Zuko found it disturbing how they always begged. Never did they try to take action against him, at least not in the end. No, they would always promise him something. Money usually, but sometimes he would get a piece of land or a building or even a whole city if he spared the target. Not that he ever accepted, or was even tempted. No, these people did not understand a contract, or what it meant to accept one.

Idly, as Zuko raises his swords to the corrupt Fire Nation official’s neck, he is reminded of himself, during the Agni Kai. There too, he had begged. He had acted like a commoner, rather than the Prince he was, still is. So, maybe his father had actually helped him. By giving him the scar, Ozai had shown Zuko what happens to those who beg. Ozai had spared his life, but it was more an act of contempt then anything else. It was to demean him, to show Zuko that the effort necessary to kill him was too great a price for one as low as Zuko. Now that Zuko had some years to think about it, and his own actions, it gave him a new perspective.

Ozai would still die. Make no mistake. But Zuko was not above being grateful to the man who showed him how to despise weakness. Ozai had helped make him strong. Of course it had been left to another, a particularly vicious and cruel woman, to actually commit the acts which transformed Zuko into the man who could kill without a second thought.

Outside of his memories, the man seems to think that Zuko’s hesitation means he is considering the offer. “Please, take my daughter. She has just turned sixteen and…” Zuko’s blade slice into the man’s throat, stopping just shy of slicing through the arteries needed to sustain human life.

“Do not mistake my hesitation for consideration in your offer. You are scum, and you deserve to die. I had planed on finishing you quickly. But any father who offers up his daughter deserves a long and agonizing death.” Zuko’s mask gives nothing away as he slowly, and methodically begins to kill the honor less target.

After an hour, Zuko departs the mansion that had been built with stolen funds. After another hour, Zuko arrives back at the base camp, and seeing the group gathered around the fire, he changes directions. When he gets near, one of the friendlier mercs, friendlier is a term used very loosely, waves Zuko over.

“Zuukooo!” She cries happily, bounding up from her place with an ease Zuko found distressingly similar to Ty Lee. But that is where the similarities end. Birurana, the hand-to-hand combat expert of the mercenary team, was an unrelenting monster who took pleasure from everything, but mostly from death, her older sister’s presence, and sex. She had no boundaries, and the only person who she obeyed was her sister Kasui. Which was a good thing for Kasui was the leader of the band of mercs that Zuko had been a part of for the better part of three months.

As for Kasui, she was the complete opposite of her sister. She was the leader, and had the strength and mentality to enforce any decision she made, not that she needed to. She was intelligent, and ruthless, and every order she gave had a reason, usually a very damn good one. And while Birurana would fuck anything that either had a hole or a cock, Kasui was very selective in her couplings. At the moment, and very likely for the rest of her life, Kasui only had two lovers, the Kyoshi exile Samantha Buke, and one of the secretive Neo Air Crusaders, Kaze Akner.

On those two, Zuko did not know much. They mostly kept to themselves. What he did know was that neither held him or the Fire Nation responsible for what had happened to their people. When he had questioned them about it, all they said was that their people had been weak, and deserved what they got. Zuko had thought that a bit cold at first, but since they were Kasui’s lovers, it does not surprise him now.

The final member of the team was a rather unpleasant Waterbender by the name of Pakota. He was the only one who went out of his way to give Zuko trouble. Unlike Samantha and Kaze, Pakota held the Fire Nation responsible for everything that had happened in the world for the past hundred years. Ironically, it was this hatred that had cast him out of his Tribe, and had drawn Kasui to him. While Zuko did not know the exact occurrence of events that made Pakota swear loyalty to a Firebender, Zuko did know that Birurana had had fun that night. Thinking back on the gleeful look that had sprang up in Birurana’s eyes, Zuko decided later it was probably best not to know exactly what went on.

“Ohhh, what’s in the bag Zuko?” Birurana asks curiously, ignoring the massive quantities of blood staining Zuko’s clothes and mask.

Hearing her sister’s voice, Kasui looks up, turning her attention from Samantha. When she sees Zuko, she raises her eyebrow, “I told you to bring proof of the kill, not baptize yourself in his blood Zuko.”

Zuko unclips his mask, attaching it to his belt. He then opens the bag, pulling a severed head from it.

“Ohh.” Birurana coos.

Kaze glances over at the head and gives a long whistle. “Damn boy. If I did not know Kasui already broken you, I would say you have a problem.”

Zuko grants him a smirk before tossing the head into the fire.

“Who said she broke me?” He asks softly, ignoring the whine of complaint from Birurana over loosing a possible toy.

Pakota growls at this, remembering just how he had been inducted.
Birurana then decides that if she can’t have the head, the one who brought it would do instead. But before she can lay a finger on Zuko, Kasui’s sharp voice rings out. “Enough. Remember our deal Birurana.”

Cursing under her breath, Birurana steps away from Zuko. Zuko nods his head slightly at Kasui. While Zuko had nothing against the others, he found Birurana slightly distasteful.

“Now, while you were busy, I received another offer. This is a Class One.” Kasui informs them, dropping a bomb shell.

The entire camp suddenly falls silent, with only the crackling sound of burning flesh resonating. Even Zuko, as relatively new as he was to mercenary work, knew that a Class One operation was the most expensive, and dangerous job a merc could do.

“Who’s the target?” Samantha asks.

Smirking with delight, Kasui reveals the target. “The Avatar.”

Three Days Later…

“KAZE, ZUKO!! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED OUT THERE!?!?!” Kasui’s blood laced eyes glare at her husband and Zuko, demanding an explanation for the broken arrow situation the team now finds themselves in.

Zuko and Kaze glance at each other. Finally, by the distinction of being her husband, Kaze answers. “Everything was going according to plan, Kasui. The Avatar had become separated from his entourage, and we had cornered him. As expected, my presence threw him into a state of confusion and disappear. But when we moved in to restrain him, the Avatar Spirit came alive. He blew past us and proceeded to decimate the hired help. As you know, they all died. Then he and the others fled.”

Kasui is unforgiving in her assessment. “So, you failed.”

Kaze nods. “Yes.” He knows that Kasui does not look kindly on failure. And since he is her lover, she expects more from him and Samantha then she does Zuko, Pakota, or Birurana. Knowing this, he will accept any punishment Kasui sees fit to give.

Surprisingly, Kasui only glares at them for a moment, before sighing. “You are forgiven. The Avatar is a powerful target and I might have been hasty in taking this contract. Do not let it bother you. Technically, we are ahead financially. Since the fodder we hired left their down payment here, we lose nothing and we can sell the gear we don’t need. Though future fodder will be reluctant to sign on with us.” And with that, Kasui writes off the deaths of five mercenaries. “Oh, there was one other thing. Pakota managed to capture one of the girls that always seems to be hanging onto the Avatar’s pants legs...”

Zuko’s heart stops at this. Knowing Pakota, there was only one person in the Avatar’s group who he would try to capture…

“The Waterbender, Katara.”
Zuko gulps slightly, and asks the question he had been dreading.

“And where is Birurana?”

Kasui glances at him curiously then shrugs. “Probably with the captive. You know how she is Zuko…” She trails off as Zuko thunders out of her tent. “ZUKO! Get back here!” Kasui calls out to his retreating form.

But Zuko either does not hear her, or he is consciously disobeying her. Either way, he thunders down the slope of the hill, running and praying that he will not be too late. As he runs, memories of past breakings, as Kasui called them, flash through his mind, filling him with renewed horror at what awaits Katara if he does not get there in time.

Flashback

Zuko watches impassively as Pakota is chained to a tree, his wrists encased in the special crystal that blocks bending. When he is firmly secure, Samantha and Kaze back off, and allow Birurana to take command.

“You know why we do this?” Kasui asks him as the pair watch Pakota writhe in pain as Birurana claws his chest.

Zuko turns his good eye toward her, than shakes his head. “To humiliate him?” He ventures.

Kasui smirks at his answer, but shakes her own head. “No. Humiliation is not the goal, but it is a welcome bonus, especially when he is concerned.” Pakota then begins to curse, albeit a bit muffled, as Birurana pulls out some sort of torture device.

“No. You see Zuko, we all wage war with the past, and we all have our chains that bind us. Everyone’s war and chains are different from the rest.” She explains. Zuko nods, well aware of the war that he fought with his own painful past. Seeing light in Zuko’s eyes awakens something in Kasui, and she dons a roll she rarely uses. She becomes a teacher.

“Now, Pakota, he is a creature of hate. He hates me, and Birurana with a passion. He hates all Firebenders. He hates us for the war, for the pain we have caused him and his family. But that hate, that passion, it is what makes him so much like us. So, his own tribe banished him, never allowing him to return. Deep down, he sees and acknowledges the true reason of why he was banished. Of course on the surface he will lie to himself, saying that it is this or that, but deep down, in his core, the answer haunts him. It whispers to him, using my voice.”

Zuko, who by this time has forgotten about Pakota being raped/tortured, turns to Kasui, giving her his undivided attention. Gaining a small pleasure from this, Kasui gestures to the woods.
“Come.” And he does.

“You see Zuko, when we first found him, he attacked us. But we were able to subdue him. I then let Birurana have her way with him. And while I watched them, I saw something curious. Do you know what I saw, Zuko?” Zuko shakes his head, having lost his voice in the near hypnotic tone of Kasui’s lecture.

“I saw him die, just a little bit. The Northern Water Tribe, they are fools, and hypocrites. They teach their students to change, to move with water, but they are as rigid and stale as the Earth Kingdom. So, when Pakota was taken, by force, a small piece of him died. And in its place, a small chain was formed. You see, to him, you do not abandon those you sleep with. It is both a part of his culture, and a part of his personal ethics; it is one of the few things I admire about him. But, because it is not him who is in control, like the Northern Water Tribe’s sexist beliefs require, it kills him a little bit. So, by still believing the Northern Way, even after years of punishment, he gives me the perfect way to chain him. For while he hates me, and Birurana even more so, he won’t ever betray us. For he won’t abandon the person he sleeps with, and the fact that it is my sister who takes him, means that he is loyal to me. Do you see how the culture you grow up in can be the thing that both liberates, and enslaves you, Zuko?”

“Yes.” He responds, deep in thought.

“Good.” Kasui replies. “Now I have a question for you. What is it that chains you, Zuko? What part of your history constricts your choices, makes you pursue a goal when you would be better off not pursuing it? What is the chain that makes you weak, Zuko?”

End of Flashback

Zuko had spent many nights thinking upon that lesson. He eventually came to his own conclusions, and felt an immense weight lifted off of him as a result. Ozai would die, but he would die because Zuko wanted him to die, not to avenge his scar or banishing. And when he recognized that fact, trivial matters like the succession of the Fire Nation became of little importance. Uncle Iroh would be a fine Fire Lord, after all, he was the one who was supposed to inherit the throne. And when it came time for him to die, Zuko would step up. Once Zuko had decided that, his life became much simpler, and more productive. It was proof that what Kasui had told him was true, power comes from knowing oneself, and being able to choose, and act.

Still, why Zuko was thankful for his trial, both to Ozai and Kasui, he did not wish to see Katara raped. For one thing, it is a barbaric act. For another, he respected her out of all the member of the Avatar’s friends. She alone could fight, and fight well. She did not deserve what Birurana and Pakota would do to her.
So, unsheathing his swords, Zuko leaps through the underbrush, prepared, and yet unprepared for what he sees.

Chained in front of him, is Katara, naked. She has several bruises on her face and body, indicating she had been beaten. This sends Zuko into a rage, and ignoring Birurana’s query of rather he wanted to join them, he launches a fire blast at Pakota, whose back is turned to him.

The attack catches Pakota off guard, sending him flying through the air. But the attack alerts Birurana, who goes on the offensive, jumping at Zuko, trying to jab his pressure points. But Zuko is prepared. His clothing is made of a thick, but light and flexible material. Her jabs do nothing but indent the cloth.

Using Birurana’s surprise to his advantage, Zuko pivots, slamming the but sides of the two blades into Birurana’s torso. ‘No sense in further enraging Kasui by killing the bitch,’ the analytical part of Zuko’s mind thinks.

But he has little time to do more thinking as Pakota leaps at him, his twin War Axes shimmering with a sharpened layer of ice. Zuko leaps back, and ignites his blades, catching the axes between his crossed Daos. For a moment the two men stand still, struggling to push the other away.

But Zuko proves to be the smarter fighter when he steps back and to the side, slamming his sword handle into Pakota’s head as he stumbles forward. With Pakota out like a light, Zuko turns to stare into the shocked eyes of Katara.

The second their eyes meet, something touches Zuko’s heart, and for the first time since joining Kasui, begins to feel something.

But the moment passes when Birurana lands a kick to Zuko’s back throwing him forward. But before she can continue her assault, a fire ball sails through the air, striking the ground between her and Zuko.

“Enough, Birurana.” Kasui commands, flanked on both sides by Samantha and Kaze.

But Birurana does not listen to Kasui. No, due to the mental damage both of them suffered as young girls, Birurana will periodically go into berserk like rages where only after expending her energies will she calm down.

Kasui, seeing that this is the case, gives a long suffering sigh of resignation, and motions Kaze forward. Kaze complies and using his Airbending, herds Birurana into a corner where Samantha traps her with Earthbending. With her sister secure, Kasui motions Samantha and Kaze away. They give a small bow, and take Birurana to the detention area.

When she is gone, Kasui grants Zuko a speculative look. “You took an awfully big risk in helping this girl. Tell me Zuko, what is so special about her?”

Zuko does not answer immediately, instead walking toward Katara, and placing his cloak over her.

“Thank you.” Katara whispers unsurely at Zuko. Zuko gives her a nod, before turning back to face Kasui.

“There is no strength in having your sister and him,” he gestures with contempt at the still unconscious Pakota, “raping her.”
Kasui tilts her head a little to the side, as if suddenly seeing Zuko in a whole new light. “Curious. You never objected before to Birurana’s games. Why now?” There is no animosity in her question, simply curiosity.

Zuko snorts. “Before, they were scum. They deserved it. But she,” he tilts his head back to Katara, “is different. She has honor, and can fight. I respect her. And I will not stand by and let your psychotic sister rape her.” Zuko winces slightly at the last sentence, but does nothing to retract it. It is the truth and doing something to take it back will only lower himself in Kasui’s eyes. It may even lead to his death.

Kasui’s eyes harden just a bit at the slight to Birurana, but then relaxes. “I respect your candor, Zuko. I am not blind to Birurana’s faults, and you know the why, so it does not matter what you call her. It is the truth. Still, what makes you think that I myself will not want to take her? She is beautiful.”

Katara winces at this statement, but Zuko sees it for what it really is. One last test.

“Then you will be violating your own beliefs, unless you wish to add a second wife to your harem. It would balance out the other two.” The quip is received and Kasui gives him a look of approval.

“You certainly have come a long way Zuko.” She comments, as she strolls up to him. She then stops by his side, and lowers her voice. “But I know your heart, better then you do. Respect is not the only motivation you have. Find out what truly motivates you in regards to her, and I will make rich as a king and you will be free to come and go as you please.” Kasui promises. She then proceeds to Katara, and after studying her face for a moment, tears the cloak off, revealing the supple body beneath.

But Kasui does gain any satisfaction from the sight, Samantha is far more alluring, and with the coldest of precision, takes a knife and slices a small hole in Katara’s chest.

Ignoring Katara’s scream of pain, Kasui plants a small crystal in the cavity. As soon as the crystal touches flesh, the pain ceases, and the flesh begins to heal.

It is only now that Kasui deigns to speak to Katara. “You are an outsider. Endanger us in any way, and you and Zuko will die.” She then turns around, and leaves Zuko with Katara.

Once Kasui is gone, Zuko takes his swords and slices the chains holding Katara, catching her as she falls. With her in his arms, Zuko looks into her eyes, and hears the only question she could ask.

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” Is his answer before she slips into unconsciousness.
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The Wrong Target