Episode Three: The Southern Air Temple

"I'm hungry."

"Suck it up."

"We've been awake for hours, Azula!"

"And we will continue to stay awake until we've devised a suitable battle plan!"

Sokka grunted, throwing himself into a chair and dangling a leg over the armrest. They'd been at sea for three days now, and Sokka had received a grand total of four hours of sleep before being rudely awakened by Azula. She'd then proceeded to keep him awake, locked in the war room of the ship as she tried to come up with the best way to tackle this new rebellion in the Earth Kingdom.

It wasn't that he didn't enjoy spending time with Azula; she just made it so difficult when she was in a mood like this. Not only that, but she'd invited her two little friends along as well, one of which was so boring he was afraid he'd fall asleep while she was talking, and the other much too enthusiastic for his own good. He'd avoided them both as much as possible, though the one in pink even more so- she had a very strong, very disturbing crush on him and continuously tried to ambush him in deserted hallways.

"Ty Lee, if we got you into the Blind Bandit's center of communications, would you be able to immobilize him?" The one in pink looked up. So that was her name.

"I'm sure I could. He's an earthbender, right?" She was currently walking on her hands across the wide table, her hair dragging along behind her. Sokka picked up his cup, removing it before she either knocked it over or got her hair in it.

"As far as we know. He's been recruiting other earthbenders to his cause, as well as most of the citizens of the city. We need to get rid of the Blind Bandit as soon as possible and dispose of this little revolution they've devised. Perhaps we'll even claim Ba Sing Se as we do so." Azula sounded rather hopeful, and so sure that they would manage to take the city. Sokka, however, wasn't so sure.

He couldn't describe it, but he had this feeling that they were missing something rather significant about this blind bandit character. Whatever it was, he was sure it could be their downfall if they weren't careful.
"Don't get too cocky, Azula." He cautioned, bringing all the attention to himself. "We don't want to underestimate this opponent of ours. For all we know, this 'Blind Bandit' could be much stronger than we anticipate. I think we should go into this cautiously, and intelligently."

A smile tugged at the edges of her mouth as she sat back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. The golden edging of her armor glinted in the lantern light, much like Sokka's own. Both were dressed in the armor of Royalty, despite Sokka's lack of a relationship with the Fire Lord. He'd been handed the bundle before they'd left, the servant saying it was directly from Fire Lord Ozai. Sokka had been honored to accept the armor, and had told Azula so, but the remainder of what had been in the bundle he kept for himself.

He would let her know soon enough, he was sure. But for now, he figured it was a better idea to keep it a secret from everyone. He didn't want to create a target out of himself.

"Than what do you suggest, Prince Sokka?" Azula asked, looking at him expectantly. Sokka grinned, and began to describe just what he had in mind for this 'Blind Bandit'. He'd never see it coming.

One of the soldiers knocked on the door before coming into the room, his face partially covered by his helmet. "Princess Azula, Prince Sokka, we have reached port for the night so that we may re-stock and refuel. An admiral who also happens to be in port wishes to invite you to dinner." He stood with his hands behind his back, and despite the rigid line of his back Sokka could tell he was nervous.

"Who is this general?" Mai asked, sounding bored. She twirled one of her knives absently, making Sokka uncomfortable.

"Admiral Zhao, My Lady."

Zuko had locked himself in his room, refusing to see anyone. Katara couldn't really blame him- he had managed to lose the Avatar before they'd even gotten out of Water Tribe territory, and now were forced to go to the nearest port to make repairs. The nearest port, of course, being one of Zhao's.

Zuko did not like Zhao. Neither did Katara, for that matter. He made her extremely uncomfortable, and whenever she left his presence she felt the need to wash. She'd not seen him for over two years, and was not looking forward to seeing him again. Of course, there was no guarantee he was in port right now, but what were the chances that he wasn't? With their luck, he'd invite them to dinner.

There was a knock on her door. "Lady Katara?" It was one of the soldiers. She looked up from the book she was reading, motioning for him to speak. "General Iroh asks that you come above, Lady Katara. You've been invited to dinner by one of the Admirals in port." She nodded.

"Thank you, Lee. Please tell him that I will be up in a few minutes." She said, breathing a small sigh of relief. The last she'd heard, Zhao had still been a general. Perhaps it was not him that had invited them to dinner.

She slipped out of her day robe and instead pulled the heavy Fire Nation armor over her head. Even though she was not considered royalty, she and Azula had the same armor. Fire Lord Ozai had given it to her before she'd left, saying that it might come in handy 'should anyone try to take her power from her'. She'd been unsure of what he'd meant, but accepted the armor all the same.

Unlike Azula, her top-knot ornament was not a three-pronged flame, but rather a two-pronged one in deep gold. The three-pronged flame signified that she was a member of the royal family, while the two-pronged simply meant she was the daughter of some higher lord or general. Zuko's head-piece had been three-pronged before he left, as he'd not received the top-knot ornament of the crown prince.

She'd only just finished lacing her boots when she heard someone knock on her door again. Thinking it was Iroh, she called out: "Come in!" as she searched for the belt that had somehow managed to disappear somewhere in her chest of clothing.

She heard the door open and close, but whoever had just entered her room did not speak. She gave a small smile of triumph as she found the belt buried beneath one of her robes, and tied it about her waist as she turned to look at who had entered her room.

To her surprise, it was Zuko. "Zuko!" She exclaimed, walking over to him. "Is something wrong?"

He'd been acting strange for weeks now, but this was an extreme. He stood looking at her with a mixture of pain, hesitation, anger, and was that…embarrassment? "Zuko, do tell me what's the matter."

He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, not looking at her as he clenched his jaw. "Zhao's invited us to dinner." He muttered. Ah. That would explain the anger, but what about the other emotions?

Her blue eyes studied him, only picking up on things that someone would see if they'd known him his entire life. He was hiding something else. "That's not everything." She said softly, hand on her hip. "If this is about Zhao's…taking a liking to me, you've nothing to worry about-"

He surprised her by grabbing her about the waist and tugging her to his chest, an intense look in his eyes as he looked down at her. There was still a hint of embarrassment, but the hesitation and pain were gone. They'd been replaced with determination.

"What-" He silenced her with a kiss.

Her eyes widened before shutting abruptly, and she allowed herself to become lost in the feeling of Zuko. Usually she was quiet, reserved- years in the palace had taught her to be that way, while it had made both Zuko and Azula into bundles of barely-contained animosity and short tempers. Now, however, she was just as passionate as Zuko as his mouth slanted over hers.

He tugged at her hair, loosening it from its binds and running his fingers through it almost reverently. She sighed, her lips parting, and then gasped when she felt the brush of his tongue on the inside of her bottom lip. He smiled slightly, catching her bottom lip between his teeth and yanking on it gently. She was thoroughly inexperienced in this department, but found it did not make much of a difference. She worked on instinct alone as she molded her body to his, hearing the slightly grating sound of metal-on-metal as their armor caught, but she didn't care. Neither, it seemed, did Zuko as he lifted her off her feet.

It was entirely wonderful experience, kissing Zuko. He was strong, but so gentle as he stroked the skin at the back of her neck. She shivered, goose bumps erupting all over her body as she cupped his cheeks in her hands. She brushed her thumbnail along the edge of his scar, and he moaned ever so slightly.

She did not hear the door open, but they jumped apart when a throat cleared very loudly from that direction. A blush escaped to her cheeks when she saw that it was Iroh, and she looked at the ground.

Her lips felt swollen, the pressure of his lips a constant memory against them. "Zhao is waiting." Iroh said a grin in his voice as he looked between the two teenagers. Zuko tried not to let either know that the interruption had bothered him, nor how embarrassed he was.

"Thank you, Uncle." Both men waited for Katara to fix her hair before they left the room.

Katara had barely stepped foot into the dining room before she was practically bowled over by a small, pink ball of energy. "Ty Lee? What-" Her eyes widened as she saw who was standing just behind her childhood friend.

"Sokka! Azula!" She untangled herself from the tiny girl before wrapping herself up in her brother, pulling Azula into the mix as well. She didn't care that everyone aboard Zhao's ship were currently witnessing this; this was her family, and she was going to enjoy their company while she could.

"If everyone would please take their seats." Zhao said, cutting their joyous reunion short. Katara composed herself and took her seat next to Zuko, who was at Iroh's left. Zhao, of course, sat in the middle of the table with Azula to his right, Iroh to his left. Sokka was on the other side of Azula, followed by Mai and Ty Lee. The set-up was obvious- even though Zuko was technically heir, he was still the banished prince. His sister was given the honor of sitting to the right of the host, Iroh on the left as an important General and brother of the Fire Lord.

Katara placed a comforting hand on Zuko's knee under the table, struggling hard to keep a blush at bay that threatened to rise from touching him this way. She never would have reacted this way before, but after what had happened in her room not a half hour ago…

He looked over at her, flashing a smile of gratitude from her action. He was still angry, she could tell, but he was doing his best not to let it get to him. Discreetly, he placed his hand over hers.

Dinner was tense. Zhao continuously tried to get a rise out of Zuko, who dubiously ignored him while making conversation with Katara. She knew he wanted to talk to Azula and Sokka, to grill them on why they were here and what had been happening in the Fire Nation recently, but it was impossible with the way the table was set up.

"Prince Zuko, I was unaware that your father had allowed you to wear the Fire Nation uniform." Zhao was saying, his tone deceptively pleasant. Zuko's hand tightened painfully around Katara's. "But I suppose, like a child playing dress up, we will allow it to slide just this once, no?" He took a drink from his cup.

Zuko stood abruptly, his face a mask of anger as he went around his uncle to speak quietly in Zhao's ear. Katara could not here what he said, but knew it couldn't have been good. Placing her napkin on the table and hurrying to stand, Katara thanked Zhao for the meal before hurrying after Zuko, who had stormed down the center aisle with murder in his eyes. The door slammed shut behind them.

There was a silence. Ty Lee got up quietly from her seat and went around to sit beside Iroh in Zuko's old seat, immediately striking up a conversation to dispel the awkwardness that had just filled the room. Slowly, the soldiers below began to talk again as Azula and Sokka continued their conversation as if nothing had happened.

Only Mai, who sat their quietly studying Zhao out of the corner of her eye, noticed the triumphant look in his eyes and the cruel smile on his face as he watched the door that Zuko and Katara had disappeared out of.