Chapter 3: The Intruder

"I finally found it!" Rinzen dropped a large gilded book on the bed beside Zuko, jostling him and the mattress slightly with its weight, and he set aside the documents he had been poring over to peer at the book's cover curiously.

"'Myths and Legends of Old?'" he read the faded title, raising an eyebrow back at Rinzen. "What's this?"

"This is the book Monk Gyatso used to read to me and Aang when we were little, it's how I learned about lion-turtles. Scoot over." Zuko obediently shuffled aside and Rinzen climbed under the covers beside him, settling the book in her lap and opening it to the chapter on lion-turtles. "Sora and I found a bunch of books locked in a vault in the Dragonbone Catacombs the other day and this was one of them."

"They were locked up?" he echoed, bewildered. "Why?"

"Same reason dancing used to be banned during the war, I guess." She shrugged one shoulder. "Creativity's a dangerous thing, especially when certain people want to control everything."

"You can say my dad, I'm not gonna be offended when it's true," he deadpanned, bumping his shoulder fondly against hers before nodding to the book. "Go on, tell me a bedtime story."

"Will you actually sleep if I do?" she asked dryly and he shifted to lay down, nestling his head against the curve of her hip comfortably.

"Yep."

"Huh." She wrinkled her nose thoughtfully. "Maybe I ought to read to you more often, didn't know that was an option to make you sleep." He rolled his eyes, pinching her knee lightly, and she tugged on a lock of his hair in retaliation before propping the book open on her knees. "'Lion-turtles, or Ancient Ones, as most respectfully refer to them, are the largest known creatures in the world. In the era of Raava, they lived in the Spirit Wilds and served as protectors of mankind by housing their cities on their backs.'"

"Raava?" Zuko echoed, frowning slightly.

"The spirit who eventually fused with the very first Avatar to allow him to bend all four elements at once," Rinzen explained. "That's why Aang's eyes glow when he goes into the Avatar State. It's Raava's energy shining through." Zuko raised an eyebrow again and she flushed slightly. "I did a lot of research when I was younger, I was curious how it worked."

"Nerd," he teased and promptly hid his face into her side with a grin when she scowled back at him.

"You're one to talk," she retorted, but the sight of him curled up beside her was so endearing that she found herself unable to sound as annoyed as she wanted to as she brushed her free hand through his hair slowly and focused back on the book to keep reading out loud.

"Is there a chapter on dragons?" Zuko asked abruptly as she reached the end of the page.

"I think so," she answered, "Although they were still around when this book was written, so it's not like they were mythical or anything. Why do you ask?"

He shrugged, not quite meeting her eyes. "No reason. There were just a lot of murals and statues of dragons in those old Sun Warrior ruins Aang and I visited. Got me wondering about them."

"Well, I'll read that chapter next if you're really that interested," she agreed, turning to the chapter in question. "'While the now-extinct race of people known as the Sun Warriors were the first humans to learn firebending, the dragons are the first true masters of firebending, harnessing the power of the sun and using their inner chi to turn it into fire…'"

As Rinzen continued to read out loud, she could hear Zuko's breathing slowing and evening out beside her. Once she reached the end of the page, she glanced down to find him fast asleep, his face turned into her side and his hand half-curled around hers where it rested beside his cheek. Unable to help a smile, she leaned down to press a kiss against his temple before settling back against the headboard of the bed to keep reading in silence, flipping quietly through the pages with her free hand. Even something as simple as looking through the pictures illuminated by the dim candlelight brought her back to her early childhood, curled up under a heavy blanket beside her brother as they peered over Gyatso's arms at the pages and listened to his soothing voice wash over them until they dozed off.

She had just finished reading the chapter on sea serpents when Zuko jolted upright suddenly beside her. "Did you hear something?" he demanded, sounding wide awake even though she was sure he had been deeply asleep only moments earlier.

"Uh, no," she said, startled, although she had been so engrossed in reading that she couldn't be confident in her answer. "Why, what's the matter?"

"Thought I heard something outside. Stay here, I'll go take a look." He leaned down to press a kiss against the top of her head before sliding off the bed to head for the door.

"Sora's standing guard, he would have noticed if something was outside," she pointed out with a frown, shutting her book and setting it aside on the nightstand. He didn't answer her, opening the door and stepping outside.

"What's the matter?" Rinzen heard Sora's surprised voice on the other side of the door, but Zuko's response was so quiet that she couldn't hear what he was saying. Sora lowered his voice, too, but Rinzen couldn't mistake the sudden tension in his voice. She gave up on trying to listen from where she was sitting, pushing herself out of bed and heading for the door. Both Zuko and Sora jumped when she pushed the door open, their expressions identically guilty.

"Alright, what're you two hiding from me?" she demanded, leaning on the doorway and crossing her arms.

"Nothing," Zuko answered a little too hurriedly. "Go back to bed, everything's fine."

"Right, that's why you just woke up like you'd been electrocuted," she answered dryly. Seeing his mouth quirk into a wry smile, she added, "Yes, I know you know how that feels, so the analogy is accurate. Now what's the matter?"

"I just thought I heard something, and it turned out to be nothing," he insisted.

"Alright, great, so why don't you come back to bed?" she suggested and he hesitated, exchanging a glance with Sora. "So there is something wrong?" Rinzen guessed.

"Zuko thinks someone might have gotten into the palace again," Sora blurted out and Zuko leveled a glare at him. "Hey, it's not like we can keep it from her," he defended.

"You think someone's in the palace?" Rinzen echoed, cold dread sinking in as she pushed herself off the doorway. "Are you sure?"

Zuko sighed, scrubbing his hand over his face. "No. I was probably just hearing things. I'm going to take a walk or something, clear my head."

"If someone is here, they could be waiting for you to be on your own somewhere," she pointed out worriedly.

"I'll be fine," he reassured her, closing the space between them to press a kiss against her forehead. It didn't soothe her nerves like it usually did, and she was sure he could sense it as he slipped his hand into hers and squeezed her fingers gently. "I won't go far, if it makes you feel better," he offered.

"It doesn't, but I don't really think anything will at this point," she deadpanned, pulling back just enough to give him a wry smile. "Sorry. I know I'm worrying too much."

"I don't blame you." He gave her a faint smile in return, although she could see the exhaustion behind it as he leaned down to peck her lips briefly before letting go of her hand to step back. "I'll be back soon, I promise. Go back to bed, Rin." Before she could protest, he turned and headed down the hall, disappearing around the corner.

"Any chance I can convince you to keep an eye on him?" she asked Sora, who grinned wryly.

"I can guarantee he'd rather have me guard you." His smile turned into a more sympathetic one. "Just give him some time, he'll be okay. In the meantime, try getting some rest? You're not doing yourself any favors by exhausting yourself."

Rinzen sighed heavily, scrubbing a hand over her face. "Yeah. Okay. If anything happens, wake me?"

"'Course I will." Sora opened the door and nudged her inside. "Go on."

"Alright, alright, I'm going. 'Night, Sora." She returned to the bedroom, shutting the door behind herself and climbing back under the covers. The sheets were already cold and the bed felt larger and emptier than ever without Zuko beside her. She debated picking up the book of legends again, but couldn't bring herself to keep reading, so she lay back to stare at the ceiling until her eyes itched with exhaustion and she finally let herself doze off into an uneasy sleep.

A light brush of lips against her forehead drew her back into consciousness, the mattress shifting slightly as Zuko sat down beside her.

"When'd you get back?" she mumbled around a yawn, instinctively curling closer to his warmth, and he carded his fingers through her hair.

"Just a couple minutes ago," he reassured her and she opened her eyes to find dim pre-dawn light filtering into the room.

"Have you been out all night?" she accused and the dark circles under Zuko's eyes gave away the answer even before his guilty expression could. "I swear, your ability to go without sleep so long is supernatural," she sighed wearily as she pushed herself upright to nestle her head against his shoulder. "What have you been doing all this time?"

"I just took a long walk around the palace grounds and lost track of time." He ducked his head to press a kiss to her temple. "I'm sorry, Rin. I didn't mean to worry you."

As Rinzen turned her nose into his shoulder, she could vaguely smell a damp earthy scent lingering on his shirt, like he had been underground. She was suddenly reminded of her time imprisoned beneath the palace, breathing in the same earthy scent every day, and immediately knew he had lied about where he had been, but decided not to ask. He would tell her the truth whenever he was ready.

"Will you get some sleep now, at least?" she asked instead and he shook his head.

"Too much work to do. I'm sorry. I just wanted to check on you before I went to my study."

"You know, I appreciate you apologizing, but I really wish you wouldn't have to do it so often," she pointed out wryly and he opened his mouth before closing it just as quickly. "You were just gonna do it again, weren't you?" she guessed and he flushed slightly, embarrassed, and lowered his head wordlessly to avoid meeting her eyes. "Dork," she couldn't help but tease fondly even as she leaned in to kiss him softly. "It's okay. Just try to sleep when you can."

"I don't know what I did to deserve you," he admitted with a faint smile, leaning back in to steal a firm kiss that left her dizzy when he pulled away. "Would it be too much to ask you to go back to sleep now?"

"Yes. Also hypocritical," she answered dryly and he huffed a chuckle as he pecked her lips again tenderly.

"Fair enough."

"You seem worried," Mai noted as she passed Rinzen a cup of tea and settled in the opposite chair with her own cup of tea. It wasn't the first time the two had met outside of the palace in a tea shop, but Rinzen still found it surreal that they had somehow become friends despite the original contention between them.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked sheepishly.

"You're not as hard to read as you seem to think you are," Mai pointed out before folding her arms on the table. "So. What's the matter with Zuko? I assume he's the reason you're upset, anyway."

"Honestly, I think he's going to work himself to death if something doesn't change soon," Rinzen confessed, taking a sip of her tea. "He hardly sleeps, and when he does, he wakes up in the middle of the night in a state of paranoia. If I don't bully him into eating, he'd probably skip meals, too."

Mai shook her head. "You're not his babysitter, Rin, you can't force him to take care of himself. The same thing happened when he was debating what to do after we came home from Ba Sing Se. He didn't tell me anything about why he was so upset, even before we broke up."

"He didn't?" Rinzen struggled to remember how Zuko had looked back then, but at the time, she had been so enveloped in her own cloud of grief over Aang's presumed death that she had hardly noticed anything else. As she thought back to those days, though, she could recall the dark circles under Zuko's eyes and the hollowness in his cheeks, eerily similar to how he was beginning to look more recently. She felt her stomach twist with worry at the thought. "You really think he's worrying about something that serious now?"

"I don't know," Mai answered, shrugging one shoulder, although her usually-impassive expression was marred by her eyebrows knitting together. "He's the Fire Lord, I assume he's got a lot on his mind. Whatever it is, he'll tell you when he's ready to."

"If it doesn't kill him first," Rinzen deadpanned and Mai cracked a small smile at last, lifting her cup in a silent invitation. Grinning back, Rinzen tapped her own cup against Mai's before taking another sip of tea. "So how's your family doing?"

"They're alright. Tom-Tom's starting to talk more," Mai answered, her smile softening slightly at the mention of her younger brother. "My mother's very pleased with his progress."

"Wow, he's growing up fast," Rinzen marveled. "When I last saw him back in Omashu, he couldn't do much more than babble and crawl."

"He's getting better at walking, too. He's a little speed demon now," Mai said, shaking her head with amusement. "It's all we can do to keep him out of trouble. He keeps eating the flowers at my aunt's shop every time we visit."

It took Rinzen a moment to remember that Mai's aunt owned a flower shop; it seemed so unlike Mai to be surrounded by such vibrant colors. "He eats them?" she echoed, bewildered.

Mai rolled her eyes, although her expression was still fond. "Don't ask. He thinks they're delicious." Rinzen couldn't help but laugh despite herself.

"Mai!" The stern voice cut through their conversation and Mai's expression instantly became shuttered as she glared over Rinzen's shoulder at the man who had intruded on their conversation.

"What do you want, Dad?" she snapped and Rinzen looked over her shoulder to find the former Ozai-appointed governor of Omashu storming into the tea shop and making a beeline for their table. "I'm busy," Mai added pointedly as he stopped in front of them, taking a sip of her tea.

"I can see that." Mai's father narrowed his eyes at Rinzen, who blinked back at him in surprise.

"I'm sorry, sir, do you have a problem with me having tea with your daughter?" she asked politely before adding quickly as he opened his mouth to retort, "Before you get too upset, I'd like to remind you that I'm already happily taken, and frankly, Mai's out of my league, anyway. She can do better."

Mai couldn't quite suppress an unlady-like derisive snort in time and her father whipped his head around to glower at her. "Watch your manners," he scolded her sharply. "And I wouldn't spend my time consorting with outsiders if I were you."

"Well, it's a good thing you're not me, then, isn't it?" Mai deadpanned with another sip of tea, but something about the way her father had said the word "outsiders," spitting it out with another scowl at Rinzen like it was a curse, felt like a punch to Rinzen's stomach.

"Your mother would like you to come home now," Mai's father said, his lips pursing in reaction to her defiance.

"I'll come home when I'm good and ready," Mai retorted and when her father didn't budge from their table, she raised an eyebrow coolly. "Bye." With another huff, he turned on his heel and left again, leaving Mai to turn a small, apologetic frown on Rinzen. "I'm sorry about that," she said quietly. "He's been acting weird ever since the war ended and-" She broke off suddenly at the look on Rinzen's face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Rinzen said quickly, draining her cup of tea and getting to her feet. "I should get going."

"Hey, if this is about what my dad said-" Mai tried to protest, climbing to her feet as well.

"No, no, it's not," Rinzen reassured her, although she wasn't sure she sounded convincing enough. "I just need to get back to the palace, I promised Zuko I'd meet him to feed the turtle-ducks." It wasn't entirely a lie; they did often feed the turtle-ducks that swam in the garden pond, but she wasn't sure he would even leave his study to join her that day.

"Sure." Mai's eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Rin, you're not an outsider here. Everyone's welcome in the Fire Nation now. You know that, right?"

"Sure, yeah. Of course." Rinzen forced a smile as she returned the tea cup to the counter. "I'll see you later, Mai." She quickly made her escape out of the tea shop before Mai could question her further; the other girl had a way of reading people that unnerved her.

"Oh, hey, are we feeding the turtle-ducks today? Wish I'd known or I'd've joined you sooner," Zuko said innocently as he sat down beside Rinzen at the edge of the pond in the palace gardens, making her jump and drop the loaf of bread in her hands. He caught it easily before it could fall into the grass, tearing off a small piece and tossing it into the water for the turtle-duckling nearest him to grab.

"I can't believe your ex told on me," she complained. "I'm starting to realize I can't trust any of your friends."

"In Mai's defense, you're her friend, too, and she cares about you," he pointed out, ducking his head to press a kiss into Rinzen's hair as he slid his free arm around her shoulders. "She said you seemed rattled by something her father said?" he added, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

"I'm okay." Rinzen shrugged, not quite meeting his eyes as she took a piece of bread from him to feed another turtle-duckling that paddled over to her. It nibbled the crumbs right out of her palm, peeping delightedly as it ate and pecking at her palm for more when it was empty.

"Right." Zuko frowned, unconvinced. "You know I love having you here, right?"

"Yeah, sure. Give me some more bread, these turtle-ducks are hungrier than I thought." She held her hand out for another chunk of bread, but he held the loaf over his head and out of her reach. She sighed heavily. "What do you want me to say, Zuko? I'm an Air Nomad. Of course not everyone here would approve of their Fire Lord being with an outsider."

"I don't care who approves of it," Zuko said stubbornly.

"Well, maybe I do," she blurted out before she could stop herself, taking advantage of his surprise to snatch the bread back out of his hand and focusing on tearing the loaf into smaller chunks so that she wouldn't have to look at him.

"Why does it matter what just a few people think about us?" he asked quietly after a long moment.

Rinzen swallowed back the sudden lump in her throat as she tossed the rest of the bread into the pond for the turtle-ducklings to squabble over. The mother of the turtle-ducklings swam over to break up the fight, a long-suffering expression on her feathered face.

"Because it can't just be a few people and you know that. If Mai's father thinks like that, I'm sure plenty of others do, too. Maybe most of the Fire Nation hates that I'm here," she answered at last.

"So what if they do?" Zuko's hand covered hers and she reluctantly looked back up at him to find him watching her with his eyebrows knitted together in worry. "Aren't you happy here?"

"Of course I am," she answered without hesitation.

"Then never mind what other people think." He pressed a kiss to the center of her arrow tattoo, and she shut her eyes to soak in the warmth of his lips against her forehead. "I love you," he murmured before pulling back to press their foreheads together. "Isn't that enough?" He sounded far more uncertain suddenly and Rinzen opened her eyes to find him watching her warily for a response.

"Yeah," she reassured him. "That's more than enough." His answering smile was blinding and she couldn't help but smile back as she leaned in to peck the corner of his mouth softly in return. "And I love you, too."

A sudden peep from between them caught their attention and they both looked down to see a turtle-duckling waddling out from the pond and settling in front of them on the grass, blinking up at them expectantly with large black eyes.

"I think he's still hungry," Zuko noted with a chuckle, reaching out to stroke the turtle-duckling's tiny head with one finger. It peeped again happily, nuzzling back into his touch.

"Guess I'd better find more bread, then," Rinzen joked as she pulled back to climb to her feet.

"Hey." Zuko caught her hand, lacing their fingers together. "Are you really okay?" It was easy to see the exhaustion on his face now in broad daylight, the dark circles under his eyes standing out against his pale skin, and any remaining concerns died in Rinzen's throat.

"I'm fine," she reassured him instead, squeezing his hand lightly. "Seriously, don't worry so much. At this rate, your hair will start going gray before you turn twenty." He wrinkled his nose at that, but shook his head with a conceding smile.

"If you say so." He lifted their intertwined hands to press a kiss to her knuckles before letting go of her reluctantly.

It wasn't surprising when Zuko jolted out of bed in the middle of the night anymore; Rinzen ended up expecting it more often than not these days.

"There's nothing there, sweetheart," she mumbled around a yawn as she shuffled into the warm abandoned spot he had left behind. "It's probably just the wind or something. Just like it was last night, and the night before that. Come back to bed."

"I know I heard something this time," Zuko answered grimly. "Stay here, I'll be back in a minute." He pressed a kiss to her forehead before heading for the door. Sora wasn't on duty that night, or at least Rinzen assumed as much when she couldn't hear his voice among the other guards' voices suggesting that Zuko return to bed and that everything was fine. Maybe that was why he seemed even more on edge than usual, she mused as she pushed herself out of bed, making her way to the door and absently smoothing down her messy hair on the way.

"Fire Lord, please, go back to sleep," one of the guards - a captain Sora had appointed personally - was pleading with Zuko. "We're in the most secure tower of the palace."

"He's got a point," Rinzen agreed sleepily, pressing her forehead against Zuko's back and letting her eyes close briefly so that she could let them rest for another moment. "You're starting to sound paranoid," she added without lifting her head.

"Someone's here, Rin, I can feel it," Zuko insisted as he glanced over his shoulder at her, his tone frustrated, "Are you telling me my instincts are wrong?"

"No, but they might be a little frayed, just like your nerves," she pointed out as she pulled back again, frowning at the agitated expression on his face. "It's bad enough you don't sleep because of work, but getting up like this every night isn't doing you any favors, either."

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, Rinzen might be right," the captain suggested tentatively. Zuko glowered at him, but Rinzen couldn't help a grin.

"See? This guy gets it," she said, giving the captain a thumbs-up of approval.

Zuko sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes hard. "I know you're worried, Rin," he said, turning to face her properly. "But I can't just turn off my brain and-" He broke off as the captain collapsed suddenly behind him with a grunt as something heavy collided with his head, unconscious before he even hit the floor. Another two loud thuds knocked the other two guards unconscious as well. Zuko spun around, tugging Rinzen behind him instinctively as he fell into a defensive stance with his fist aimed in front of them. "Show yourself!" he shouted at the empty hallway.

"I take everything I said back about your paranoia," Rinzen offered apologetically as she clutched the back of Zuko's shirt, feeling a stab of guilt for doubting him even as her heart hammered in her throat. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Zuko answered tersely, glancing around them worriedly, before a mace flew at them from the darkness, slamming into the ground at his feet. He jumped back, shoving Rinzen out of the way before punching forward to unleash a powerful blast of fire at their assailant as she leapt out of the shadows, clad in black with a mask covering most of her face except her braided brown hair and brown eyes.

"Down with the traitor!" she shouted. "Down with the Fire Lord who betrays his own people!" The words rang an unpleasant bell in Rinzen's head even as she pushed her hands out to send an air current to knock their attacker back. She threw the mace out again as she landed on her feet, but Zuko dodged it and swung his leg out to send a wave of fire at her, knocking her to the floor as her mace skittered across the carpet out of reach.

"Convince me not to end your life!" he snarled as he closed the space between them, tearing her cloth mask off to reveal a young girl around Katara's age.

"Zuko, stop, she's a kid!" Rinzen blurted out before she could stop herself, hurrying to grab his arm before he could throw a blast of fire at the girl. His skin was boiling hot and it was all she could do to hold on long enough to yank his arm back to his side.

"That kid was trying to kill us ten seconds ago!" he snapped back at her.

"No, just you," the girl on the floor piped up. "She could've lived if she hadn't interfered."

"Oh, okay, I'll be sure to let you kill my boyfriend next time so you can spare me, then," Rinzen said dryly, but had to tug Zuko's arm down again as he attempted to lift it once more.

"Let go, Rin!" he insisted.

"Not until you knock it off!" she retorted. "I'm not gonna let you hurt some misguided kid!"

"Oh, go ahead and let him kill me," the girl said bitterly. "He'd only be proving me right. My family's been loyal to his for generations. By killing me, he'd just complete his betrayal."

"Your family?" Zuko echoed, his confusion outweighing his anger as his skin began to cool against Rinzen's hand.

"My father's the mayor of Yu Dao," the girl answered.

The name sounded familiar, but before Rinzen could ask, Zuko confirmed, "The first of the Fire Nation colonies."

"And my home," the girl added heatedly. "And now you and the Avatar are gonna destroy it with your precious Harmony Restoration Movement!"

Convinced that Zuko wouldn't attempt to kill her now as a stunned expression settled over his face, Rinzen released his arm and knelt down to the girl's height. "What's your name?" she asked curiously.

The girl stared at her, bewildered, before dropping her gaze to her knees. "Kori," she muttered sullenly.

"How old are you?" Rinzen prompted.

Kori pursed her lips, ducking her head to keep Rinzen from trying to meet her eyes. "Fifteen," she mumbled.

"You know, there are better ways of bringing up your concerns than jumping straight to murder," Rinzen pointed out dryly.

"Somebody had to do something," Kori burst out, frustrated. "No one in Yu Dao wants to leave. But it's not like he cares." She jabbed a finger at Zuko accusingly over Rinzen's shoulder. "He's supposed to protect his people, not throw them to the wolves. Let me guess, you're going to cart me home to face my family," she added resentfully to him.

"That's exactly what I'm going to do," Zuko said with a scowl as the sounds of footsteps echoed down the hall and Sora skidded around the corner.

"The one night I'm not on duty, and this happens," he sighed wearily as he took in the situation. "Are either of you hurt?" He glanced up at Zuko and Rinzen worriedly.

"We're fine," Rinzen reassured him, slipping her hand into Zuko's. She didn't know why it hurt as much as it did when he pulled his hand away immediately from hers, running his fingers agitatedly through his hair instead.

"Sora, have her locked in the dungeon until we can get a ship ready," he ordered irritably. "I'll be taking her home to Yu Dao myself. And have someone collect the guards she knocked out and escort them to the infirmary." He turned sharply on his heel and slammed the bedroom door shut behind himself.

Sora glanced at Rinzen, alarmed, but Rinzen just shook her head; it was better not to ask too many questions when Zuko was in such an obviously-foul mood. Reluctantly, Sora nodded before ushering Kori to her feet, tying her hands behind her back and nudging her down the hallway.

"Come on, kid, let's get you down to the dungeon."

"I can walk on my own," she snapped at him, yanking her arms out of his grip and walking ahead of him with her chin jutted out stubbornly. Once they rounded the corner, Rinzen followed Zuko's lead, shutting the bedroom door behind herself and turning to find him sitting on the edge of the bed, his head buried in his hands.

"What the hell was that?" she demanded and he looked up at the sound of her voice.

"Excuse me?" he said, startled.

"Since when do you snap at Sora?" she pointed out. "And since when do you threaten to kill children?"

"She's hardly a child," he dismissed. "Especially if she's able to sneak into the palace and attempt to kill the Fire Lord."

"She's fifteen!" she said incredulously.

"So is Azula," he reminded her and the revelation took her aback. She had never considered the fact that Azula, as awful as she had been, as cruel and calculating and harsh, was still younger than both herself and Zuko. "You forgot that, didn't you?" he said as he took in the stunned expression on her face with a small, weary smile.

"Kind of, yeah," Rinzen confessed, embarrassed. "But that doesn't change what happened tonight. Kori's clearly frustrated because no one will take her seriously. Yes, she went to extremes!" she added as Zuko opened his mouth to protest hotly. "But if someone - maybe a certain Fire Lord - listened to her and took action, then others might not be tempted to do the same thing." She hesitated before adding, "Also, I'm not gonna say I told you so, but I did warn you before about people maybe not being happy about the colonies being relocated back to the Fire Nation."

"Of course you did," he said sarcastically, collapsing back onto the edge of the bed. "Because you always have to be right about everything, don't you? And hey, you were right when you said I was just hearing things tonight, too. Your track record's great so far."

She blinked, hurt. "I said I was sorry for that."

"You said I was starting to sound paranoid," he accused.

"I did," she conceded, closing the space between them to take his hands. "And I'm sorry. You were right about hearing someone outside and I shouldn't've doubted you."

He exhaled slowly at last, letting their fingers curl together. "I know you mean well by worrying, Rin. But making me sound like I'm going crazy doesn't help."

"I didn't mean to," she said guiltily and he let himself sink forward against her, releasing her hands to wind his arms around her waist.

"I know. I'm sorry for snapping at you and Sora."

"Make it up to me by coming home from Yu Dao soon," she reassured him as she relaxed into his hold, pressing her lips into his hair as her arms slid around his shoulders and she let her fingers card through his hair slowly. "I meant what I said about listening to Kori, though. I don't blame you for being angry at her, but maybe she's not the only one with problems that are going unheard."

Zuko hesitated before nodding reluctantly. "I'll talk to her father. She said he was the mayor. If anyone will speak for the people of Yu Dao, it's him."

"That's all I ask." Rinzen pressed another kiss against the top of his head. "Are you still mad at me?"

"It's impossible to be when you've already apologized a bunch of times," he sighed, cracking a small smile back up at her before tugging her down into a proper kiss.

It's been over a year, but the Avatar renaissance brought on by Netflix spurred me to crank out another chapter of this fic!

Honestly, The Promise starts off relatively slow and it required a lot of motivation for me to write this scene out. Hopefully, things won't be as slow for the next update, but I'm changing jobs soon, so I'm not sure how steady updates will be. I'll do my best!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!