CHAPTER 10: SUDDEN ATTACK
With details of the plan discussed and certain aspects of the plan assessed, the group called it quits for the time being. Suki was called into the room along with the village Chief to discuss the parts that might be interesting to them.
The plan was as follows. For the forseeable future, Zuko would travel with the Avatar and his team until the winter solstice approached. Within 2 days of the winter solstice, Zuko will join up with his uncle and crew on a preagreed destination. Travelling with him will be Katara and Aang. With Aang taken as the Avatar to allow passage pass the blockade. Katara will be disguised as an assistant assigned to the whims of the Prince. Together they will sail to the crescent shaped island and hopefully enter the Fire Sage Temple and meet with Avatar Roku. Sokka meanwhile will remain in the earth kingdom with Appa, accompanied by Suki and Momo. Upon their return, they will continue the journey to the North Pole for Aang and Katara to master waterbending. Zuko will also return but his plan depended on what he learnt from Avatar Roku.
By the time the group finished discussions, it was time for lunch. Of course there was still major distrusts between the groups. Everyone was keeping Zuko at an arms length away. No matter how much he said it, they were not stupid enough to completely trust him. For now they decided to just let themselves give him a chance incase what he said was truly to come. Their distrust was most evident when Zuko was not allowed back into the village. Zuko ofcourse whole heartedly agreed.
He wasn't dumb enough to think they fully trusted him. To be honest he did not trust them. Although he knew of their personalities, this world was different from the world he watched growing up. For all he knew, those same changes affected their personalities as well. He did not mind eating lunch out in the forest by himself. Instead he went to the small boat with which he arrived. The boat was packed full of supplies that would comfortably last him atleast 2 weeks. That could be extended to over a month if he used them sparingly.
From the boat he took out a barrel of fish, half a dozen to be exact. Using the twiks he gathered in the forest he made a makeshift fire at the beach, using his bending ofcourse. He took out a small metal pot from the boat and placed it ontop of the makeshift stand he made for it to sit directly ontop of the flames. While the oil heated up he returned to the boat and grapped some herbs and spices. He quickly seasoned the fish with the different herbs and spices. He smelled and tasted each spice before using, using his imagination for what the combined taste would be. After being satisfied with the smell he carefully started to fry the fish. Each one he placed was met with sizzling of hot oil.
The pot was small enough to only fit three fish at once. Each fish was only on one side for a minute or two. Each fish was only about half the length of his forearm. Like most fish their width was less than half the length of the fish. After each were done he took them out on a large plate. He distinguished the fire with his bending and while the pot and oil cooled he enjoyed his lunch of fried fish with dried bread, a pair of apples and a glass of spicy wine. People of the Fire Nation loved spicy wine, for some reason he too enjoyed it these days.
Over the next half an hour he cleaned his plate by the pier. After which he cleaned up everything but the smoldering remains of the fire. He placed back everything into the boat. With that he was ready to return to the village.
"Oh so you had lunch?" A feminine voice suddenly called him as he looked out into the village. He turned to see Katara standing next to his smoking fire on the beach. Behind her stood Sokka and Aang.
"We have to continue North. Are you ready?" Sokka asked.
"We are taking the flying bison right?" Zuko made sure.
"Yes we are taking Appa for the most part of the journey." Aang confirmed.
"If you want we can add my supplies," Zuko suggested.
"Sure thing," Sokka hastily agreed. "Because it's the start of summer the village is short on supplies so we can certainly use them as well."
Without answering Zuko started to remove the supplies of the small paddle boat. He loaded them all off on to the dock.
"I'm going to get Appa!" Aang said with bright eyes. The supplies seemed good enough to last a while which made him thrilled.
"I will make sure our staff is ready!" Sokka joined him entering the forest. He too was impressed by the supplies. His teenage boy appetite seemed limitless these days so he wasn't too keen on rationing everything. At least Zuko was rich enough to add more food.
For the first time, Zuko was left alone with Katara. Although he initially thought she had left for the village to help out. He was a bit startled to notice her when he turned after finishing unloading the supplies from the dock on to the beach. This was his chance to talk to her more. He was already at breaking point. A warm blooded teenager like himself not rubbing one out was killing him. It felt like even a cool breeze was enough to get him over the edge. Trying his utmost to hide his eagerness he walked up to her.
Unbeknownst to Zuko, Katara was having problems of her own. Although she wasn't frozen like their first meeting she was still too nervous for some reason. Her anxiety was making her shiver uncontrollably. If this persisted she might get a stroke of some kind. A confusing feeling continued to build inside her, a feeling her young mind could not comprehend. It was after all her first time feeling this way.
"So there was something I wanted to ask you," Zuko suddenly spoke as he approached her. "Earlier you mentioned it is not a betrothal necklace so does that mean you are not betrothed or is there someone?"
His question completely stunned her. 'Why was he asking this again? Is he interested in the necklace? If not the necklace then is he interested in me? Everything in my mind is telling me he must be interested in me but I am just an ordinary girl. He is a Prince and not just of any nation but the Fire Nation. Even if he was, I will never be interested in a man from the Fire Nation. Not after what they did to my mother!' Her thoughts drifted so much that by the time she realized atleast a minute had passed with her silence.
"I'm sorry did you hear me?" Zuko asked. He was perplexed by her silence. Perhaps he had gone too far too fast but he had to try atleast. His balls felt like lead. At worst she would just reject him. She was not the type to do a quickie after all. It meant he had to at least get her to rub one out for him. She might have changed so he had go try anyway. "The reason I am asking is because I want you to be mine." He boldly declared.
A rush of emotion suddenly overwhelmed Katara. Her face heated up as she turned pink with blush. Just as she prepared to speak, an image of her mother flashed across her mind. Suddenly she regained all her composure and colour returned to her face. She looked straight into the eyes of Zuko and prepared to let him have it.
When their eyes met, all her resolve vanished. She did not see anything other then his desire for her in his eyes. What he spoke was what he wanted and what he wanted was her. The feeling of being wanted by someone so much was exhilarating. It was almost enough to overcome the obvious obstacle between the two of them. The key word being 'almost'. It still did not change her feelings towards the Fire Nation. She couldn't simply just forget what happened not only to her mother but also what happened to her home. The trauma she suffered because of that was simply too much for whatever budding feelings she might have. Her feelings were not strong enough to overcome the sorrow and trauma, the hatred she had for the Fire Nation.
"I-I can't," She instead answered. "I simply can't forget about everything you've done!"
Zuko stood there silently. Watching her eyes fill up with tears. He held back his yearning to comfort her. Although she forgave Zuko in the future, it was only because he led her to the guy who killed her mother. He still did not have the connection with her to pursue anything complete. For now he just had to trust it will come in time.
"I'll tell you what," he began. "Until after we return from the crescent shaped island my offer still stands. I want you as my woman and I don't intend to change my mind. For now let's just see how we work together."
The attitude he displayed caught her off guard. It was as if he was giving her control over the situation. She would have thought he would threaten her but it would seem the look in his eyes were genuine. She herself was just a 14 year old girl who knew next to nothing of the workings of a heart. She had observed quite a few relationships around the village but this only confused her more. She wondered if this feelings were just admiration of a mature man or simply a little girl crush. Even if it could prove to be something more, it did not sedate the hatred she felt in her heart.
"Prince Zuko, Sokka called to help load up the supplies in the village!" A mysterious voice suddenly called from the forest. They both turned to see Suki approaching from the forest.
"Of course," Zuko said and ran up the island where she came from.
While Zuko disappeared into the forest, Suki walked up to Katara. Almost immediately Suki noticed the tear filled eyes of Katara.
"Are you okay? What happened?" She asked.
"Its nothing, I'm just... confused!" Katara tried to put her emotions into words that could be understood.
"What are you confused about?"
"Its just Zuko, he uhm- er, you know what? It's nothing, just some wind in my eyes." She decided to not tell her about her conversation with Zuko.
*BOOOOOOM!!!!!* Suddenly the base of the docks exploded along with Zuko's little boat.
Suki and Katara turned to the sea to see not just 1, not 2, not 3 but 5 fire nation ships approaching the island. The beach suddenly started exploding with more canon blasts that shot up not only the sand but the water high. Those that didn't miss started to destroy the docks and the marina.
As Suki and Katara headed for the village, the water of the lake started to rise in a dome like shape. It rose so high until it was almost as high as the mountain. As the water fell away it revealed the legendary monster known as the Unagi. The huge serpent like monster shot out a percussive beam of water straight at one of the ships. As the water emptied in its body it let out a devastating roar that shook the entire island to its core. The ships immediately turned their guns for the monster and forgot about the harbour.
Meanwhile back at the village. Zuko and Sokka were interrupted by the sudden explosions. Immediately they started to run for the beach but just at that moment Suki and Katara exited the forest. Aang came flying down from Appa in a hurry. He too was alarmed by the loud explosions. In fact so was most of the village. The villagers started pouring out in numbers and gathered towards the North. Even this high up they saw the Unagie battling against 3 Fire Nation ships. It had sunk 2 of the 5.
"The Fire Nation but how?" Zuko wondered out loud.
"This is your doing isn't it!?" Sokka suddenly turned to Zuko with an accusation. "You called them here to capture Aang!" He added. The murmurs of the villagers quickly started to spread.
"Don't be ridiculous," Zuko reprimanded. "I told you there's something more dangerous coming than this war!"
"How do you explain the Fire Nation showing up the same day as you? Kyoshi has done well to stay out of the war until you came to our island!" Suki demanded.
"I told you," Zuko began. "My ship is on its way north already. No one besides them know where I am and my uncle would never betray me!"
"Your uncle might not, but what about the rest of your crew!?" Katara asked.
Her question hit the mark for Zuko. He knew her insinuation was correct. The only 2 people he told of his reason in coming to Kyoshi was his uncle and....
"That bastard Mui!" Zuko snapped. Mui was the only person who knew of the reason he came to Kyoshi. "Next time I see him I will make him regret ever knowing me!" The anger and betrayal he felt oozed out of him. The sheer killing intent even put Aang on edge. He had never once felt such blood lust. This Zuko guy was a very dangerous enemy. He was glad he didn't have to consider him an enemy anymore.
"So who did this Mui guy tell?" Sokka asked.
For a moment Zuko contemplated who it could be. Almost immediately the name came to him.
"Commander Zhao!" He answered. "I fought him a few days ago. Even though he won he hates my guts!"
Everyone who could hear could not believe what they were hearing. Having seened the devastating power of Zuko wielded they all believed him to be unbeatable. If the Fire Nation had people he could not beat then the war was already won. The other nations did not stand a chance.