Prince Zuko was totally fucking lost.

Katara had taken so many U turns and climbed so many stairs and jumped over so many walls, with him in tow, that if he'd wanted to go back to the Palace he wouldn't even know where to start.

That would have been problematic… if he'd wanted to go back to the Palace.

Turns out, he didn't.

But depending exclusively on some random girl –albeit a stunningly beautiful one– was kind of a drag.

Prince Zuko supposed hiding out with Katara for a while wouldn't hurt, but he was not planning to stay for long. His honor was out there somewhere, and he was going to find it.

He wondered if Katara might be a first step in the search for his honor, and hence made goddamn sure to look down as she led him up a series of ladders, respecting the girl's privacy.

Another man might have tried to glance up at her butt, but not Zuko.

Which was the reason why he was dizzy by the time they reached the top of the stairs. He blinked a couple of times as he stepped on a filthy rooftop, and spirits curse him, he lost his footing.

Consequently, he stumbled and fell forward, right on Katara's chest.

Ever the nonchalant, she laughed as she helped him stand straight. "You okay there?"

Prince Zuko could feel his face burning up to his ears. "Yeah, yeah, thanks."

She tried to make visual contact, smiling. "You sure?"

Zuko nodded, trying to smile back and failing miserably, but then something in the sea of blue in her eyes drew him like a magnet.

Her lips parted and she hitched a breath, and he got lost in that tiny, imperceptible movement of her mouth.

They stared at each other for what seemed like ages, until he became uncomfortably aware that her arms were still holding him and he didn't know where his arms where and Agni's sake please don't let them be on her butt and he jumped back.

He nervously ran his hands through his head and desperately tried to regain his cool.

"I… I just wanted to thank you. For stopping that man. In the market?"

It took her a few seconds to reply. Zuko kept himself from looking at her again.

And then she started moving, turning around nervously to face the next rooftop, speaking quickly.

"Sure, forget it." She reached down and grabbed a long wooden pole. "So, uh, this is your first time in the marketplace, huh?"

Zuko worried for a moment that she'd figured his identity and turned to look at her, but she was already using the pole to jump over to the next building.

"Is it that obvious?"

Katara stared appreciatively at him. "Well, you do kinda stand out."

Prince Zuko felt his pride swell a bit, and a lopsided smile twitched at the corners of his mouth.

"I mean..." Katara started nervously, and while she uselessly picked a plank to lay between the buildings to help him across, Zuko grabbed one of the poles and flung himself over to the next rooftop with ease, and landed behind her. "... you don't seem to know how dangerous Agrabah can be".

When she blinked and turned to look at him in surprise, he couldn't help himself.

"I learn fast."

He could almost hear in his head the voice of his teacher, Master Piandao, berating him for showing off, but he quickly shushed it. He wasn't at the Palace anymore.

"Where to now?"

Katara gulped, and walked past him. "This way."

From there it was only a short walk down some stairs, under a series of beams and into a tall, broken building. "Watch your head, be careful", she warned.

"Is this where you live?" Zuko wondered, and Katara nodded.

"Yep, just me and Momo. Come and go as we please."

If only he could do the same!

She finally led him into the top floor of the building. It was dusty, and empty except for a rag-covered, dirty bunch of straw near a cloth covering an enormous hole on the wall, and a pillow sitting on a broken pillar. Momo screeched with joy and bundled up on the pillow. Home sweet home for the little fellow.

The contrast with Zuko's splendid, lavishly decorated room was immense, but he felt exhilarated.

He could sense a draft coming from somewhere that breathed freedom into this room, and just imagining the possibility of running around the city all day, doing whatever he wanted, and then coming to this cozy little hole to cuddle by the fire at the end of the day… it sounded like heaven on earth.

"Fabulous," he whispered.

Katara shrugged. "Well, it's not much," and then she pulled from the cloth covering the hole, "but it's got a great view".

Zuko turned to look, expecting to see the sunset on the dunes or some wondrous picture, but it was only the Palace.

"The Palace looks pretty amazing, right?" Katara said, eyes glimmering in the sunset.

But Zuko turned away and sat on the floor, feeling suddenly disappointed. "Yeah, wonderful."

Katara was still staring dreamily at the Palace. "I wonder what it would be like, to live there. To be in a position where you can really help people…"

Zuko growled. "People who tell you where to go, how to dress, how to act… It's always about how it looks. Never what it means."

Katara frowned at him. "Well, it's better than here. Always scraping for food and ducking the guards."

Zuko stood up. If only she knew. Folks at the Palace didn't give a rat's ass about the people like her. Honor did not lie within the walls of that Palace.

He tried to explain. "In the Palace, you're not free to make your own choices, not to pursue your own dreams, or to help anybody."

But Katara wasn't listening. She was on her feet too, staring through the hole in the wall down at the streets of Agrabah.

"I always wish I could do something about Agrabah, about the people suffering, but I really can't do much, not from my place. It's frustrating. It makes me feel so…"

Zuko breathed, still trying to find the right words. "Sometimes the Palace makes me feel so…"

They reached the conclusion at the same time. "Useless."

Zuko stared. Katara stared. Nobody breathed for a minute. And then Momo chirped in his sleep and they both blinked.

Katara pulled nervously from a strand of her hair. "I'm sure you're not useless."

Zuko huffed. "You'd be surprised."

"So," she began. "Where are you from? How did you end up working in the Palace?"

The only information he couldn't provide. He turned away from her.

"What does it matter? I am not going back," he spat.

Something smacked him on the back of his head. "Hey!"

He spun around. Katara was giggling adorably, and the apple she'd tossed at his head rolled by his feet. The sound woke Momo, and he jumped over the apple on the floor.

Katara picked another apple and rolled it down her arm and into Prince Zuko's hands.

"Really? Maybe you should think about it," she said, and while Zuko didn't like her tone, her look of curious sympathy won him over.

He sighed and went to sit next to her.

"My Uncle's forcing me to get married," he finally confessed.

Katara seemed horrified. "Spirits, that's awful."

"But I don't want to get married, not like this, like a lamb being sold in the market. I need to find my own honor."

Suddenly there was a screech behind him and Katara gasped. "Momo!"

The lemur chattered quickly at her.

"What?" Zuko asked.

"Momo says…" Katara hesitated. "He says that's not fair."

Zuko stared at the little animal, who seemed baffled.

"Did he?"

Katara nodded solemnly. "Of course."

Zuko turned to look at Katara, the lie being obvious to him. Momo didn't understand jack squat of their conversation. So why did she…?

The husky look in Katara's blue eyes provided the answer.

Prince Zuko tried to think of what to say. Uncle Iroh would certainly know some fantastic line to spout at a time like this, something about her eyes being like sapphires sparkling so bright or some shit.

Zuko winced to himself. The sapphires line was bullshit, so cliché, almost... catlike.

"So, uh…" at a loss, he stared at Momo. "Momo got anything else to say?"

Katara inched closer, her leg by his side, and dropped her voice. "Well, he wishes there was something he could do to help."

Zuko smiled, now caught in the moment. She was so close he could smell the perfume in her hair, he could trace the line of her jaw, he could almost count her eyelashes.

He dropped his voice too, and ran a gentle finger down the length of her arm. "Tell him that's very honorable of him."

He leaned in to kiss her. Their noses were touching, and-

"THERE YOU ARE!"

They jumped. Momo started flying around and screeching nervously.

"They've found me!" Katara and Zuko said at once.

They stared at each other. "They're after you?"

Zuko growled, wishing he had brought his dao swords with him. "My Uncle must have sent them!"

"We're getting out of here, and we're gonna do it together," Katara suddenly said. He looked at her, and felt a shiver run down his back. The words sounded important, somehow. She grabbed his hand and stared at him decidedly. "Hold my hand. We can do this!"

Prince Zuko had but a moment to wonder at her bravado before she drew him by the edge of the hole in the wall.

"Jump!" she said, and they fell. Momo flew over their heads, chattering.

Their landing was softened by a mountain of salt. Katara helped him up. Momo perched on her shoulder and chirped.

She led him to the exit, but they both crashed against an iron chest plate.

"Well, well, we just keep running into each other, don't we, street rat?"

Prince Zuko looked up. It was Toph, the head of the Palace Guard. Another of her guardswomen trapped Momo in a jar.

"Or rather, I keep 'seeing' you run away like the coward that you are."

Katara jumped to her feet in outrage. "I'm not a-"

But Toph caught her wrist in a handcuff and locked it. "It's the dungeon for you, sweetness."

"Get off me!" Katara squealed, but it was useless.

Zuko jumped to his feet. He had to do something! "Let go of her!" he ordered.

But they ignored him and pulled Katara away.

Another guardswomen caught him from behind. "Well, well, look what we have here, girls. A street mouse!"

But he dropped to his feet and pulled the guard over his head, rolling her over his body and into the ground.

In a dramatic, fluid movement, he rid himself of his cloak, pulled his royal topknot out of his pocket and flashed it at the guards.

"Unhand her, by order of the Crown Prince!"

The guards stopped dead on their tracks and bowed, forcing Katara to bow too, to Zuko's disgust.

"I knew I knew that voice," Toph chuckled. "Prince Zuko."

"Let her go, Toph."

"Or what? You'll rat me to your Uncle?" the Chief of the guard teased. "How did you get past my guards, and what are you doing out here with this street rat?"

Zuko stepped forward and attempted to tower over Toph, trying to intimidate her, a hard feat considering she was taller and bigger than him.

He dropped his voice in all seriousness. "That, is none of your concern. Do as I command. Release her, right NOW."

But Toph smirked, undeterred.

"Oh, Sparky, I wish I could. But my orders come from Azula. You'll have to take it up with her."

And then she turned to her guards. "Take her away!"

Zuko was fuming. He was going to have Toph fucking fired. Who the hell did she think she was? "Believe me, Toph, I will."

Azula stepped out of the secret entrance to her laboratory, deep in thought, not noticing that Ty Lee was several steps behind her. Azula never bothered to shut the doors behind her, that was Ty Lee's job.

But she was forced to shut the door behind her this time, leaving Ty Lee trapped in the passageway, when she heard a shout.

"Azula!"

A very angry Prince Zuko was strolling towards her.

She grinned. She loved to tease Prince Zuko out of his wits.

She'd convinced him while they were still young kids that ratting her out to Sultan Iroh meant losing his honor, so Zuko never again spoke a word against her in public. He was so easily manipulated.

Of course, he hated her with all his guts, but she didn't give a flying fuck about it.

Ty Lee knocked the wall behind her. "Uh, Azula? I'm trapped."

"Zuzu!" she screamed in delight, while kicking the wall with her talon to warn Ty Lee to keep quiet. "What can I do for you?"

"Don't call me that!"

She fixed her hair nonchalantly, ignoring his outburst. "...Well?"

"The guards –Toph– just took a girl from the market, on your orders!"

It took Azula a split second to realize he meant the diamond in the rough. Well, that was an unfortunate meeting that was never happening again. She examined her fingernails.

"So? I have been charged with keeping peace in Agrabah and I take my job very seriously, you know. That girl was a criminal."

"What was her crime?"

Ty Lee knocked on the wall again, softer this time. "Azula?"

She kicked the door again with her talon, and then walked past the fuming Prince.

"Well, kidnapping the Prince, of course. Your safety is very important to us, Zuzu."

"But she didn't kidnap me! It was my choice!"

Azula spun around on her feet, feigning horror. "Oh, dear."

Zuko froze. "What?"

She shook her head sadly, not missing a movement the young man did. "Oh, Zuzu, you should think better about your choices. Had I but known…"

His face became ashen, and Azula rejoiced. "What… what do you mean?"

"Well, we had to carry out the sentence, due to the severity of her crime, naturally. I personally saw to it that it was done."

Zuko's voice was a whisper. "What sentence?"

"Death," she dealt out the fatal blow, and was rewarded with the sight of all the energy suddenly draining out of Zuko's body. His knees gave out and he sat on a bench behind him.

She circled him to stand behind him, beaming to herself, and, as she clutched his shoulders in an eagle grasp, couldn't withhold from throwing out the last card. "By beheading."

Zuko gasped audibly and Azula could barely contain her sheer pleasure at the sight -and feel- of his defeat.

"Like I said, had I known…"

Prince Zuko found his footing again, and he turned to stare at her, the seeds of a flaming rage burning in his eyes. "You killed her."

Azula sighed. "Don't be so dramatic, Zuzu. I didn't wield the blade myself, of course. I only saw to it that the guards of the palace did their job."

"This isn't the end, Azula," he said in a murderous tone, and she felt pleasantly surprised. Had Prince Zuko finally grown a spine? "My Uncle shall hear about this."

"Good luck with that," she deadpanned.

Zuko strolled away, and as soon as he was out, Ty Lee opened the wall and gasped, whispering something about not being able to breathe or some other stupid Ty Lee thing.

Azula ignored her, hearing Zuko's fading steps and wondering if she could actually find a use to that boneless, useless joke of a prince.

Ty Lee appeared at her side, perching with both hands at her shoulder. "So, how did he take it?"

Azula chuckled. "I think he took it rather well."

Prince Zuko didn't think crying was honorable, but he was kind of hoping it was, because he was about to break down.

He'd been strolling across his bedroom for over two hours now.

Katara had died because of his foolishness. A young, blooming girl, with all her life ahead of her, killed, for a crime she didn't commit.

Naturally, he had been to see his Uncle. He'd made a scene, a real one this time. He'd tossed Uncle's furniture around, screamed himself hoarse, broken lamps and jars all over the place, but Uncle's sole response was attempting to hug him and offer him tea.

Did Uncle really not understand?

This wasn't about Zuko! It wasn't even about Katara! It was about the wrongness of it all, the power Azula wielded to have a citizen killed like that, the disrespect from Toph!

How could Uncle allow Azula to decide singlehandedly over the lives of people? Without ever bothering to check the righteousness of her decisions?

How had he handed over the Guard, the keepers of the peace, the soldiers that were supposed to be fighting for the people of Agrabah, to a villain like Azula?

And how on Earth did Uncle expect Zuko to take over some day, if nobody in the Palace respected his word and thought him a joke? How could he ever rule, when he had literally zero power in this place?

How could a cold-blooded murder like Katara's go unpunished?

Because he was pretty sure that Azula had killed her simply out of spite for Zuko, just to bother him, as if the life of an Agrabah citizen only meant a cruel joke she played on him, and nothing more.

He felt the tears pool at the corner of his eyes, and he felt about to burst. He strolled over to the balcony and let out a deep howl of frustration at the moon.

He sat down on his balcony, hugging his legs.

Foo Foo Cuddlypoops came closer and sniffed his face worriedly. He stared into the eyes of his best friend. "It's all my fault, Foo Foo. But it's over. It's the last time Azula plays me. I swear."

He breathed deep, and felt as his grief turned into deep-seated anger, a rage that grew from the bottom of his lungs, from his bones, and rose like fire inside him, feeding energy into his body.

Softly speaking to himself, he swore revenge.

If not his honor, Prince Zuko would earn his vengeance.

Whatever it cost.