Bitter Alliance

Act II

Chapter 5

A/N – Mature content ahead. Heed the warning at the beginning of the story. Oh yeah! Avatar: The Last Airbender doesn’t belong to me. Surprise! It is the intellectual property of Nickelodeon and its creators. I’m just mucking around in their universe.

--

Staring at my reflection in the pond, I do not recognize the person. I wiggle my hand back and forth to verify that it is my image. The boy in the reflection looks confused and tired, but he waves to me anyway. That’s me. That’s me in the pond. The only problem is that I don’t know who I am.

I’ve been walking around for days. No one will talk to me. It’s as though they do not see or hear me. Maybe they don’t.

The water ripples as a leaf falls from a nearby tree, disturbing the reflection’s worried expression. Gray eyes stare back at me as I study my features. Most peculiar are the blue arrows on my head and hands. I know the markings mean something, but I haven’t a clue as to what.

I feel as though there is something important I need to do, but my lack of memories hinders my attention and my mind often wonders through time. The water reflects the truth. I am a boy, even though I feel much older. I am only a boy.

Yellow clouds float across the blood-red sky. I long to touch them, but realize that it would be impossible. I can’t fly.

When I close my eyes, I see flashes of faces and places that hold no meaning to me. Some seem familiar while others seem new. I dream of a woman who cradles me in her arms. She sings to me. It’s a little off-key, but I still find her voice pleasant and soothing. She has the bluest eyes I have ever seen, or at least, I think I’ve seen.

Lying back onto the grass, I fold my arms behind my head and study the clouds. One looks like a horned animal with a large flat tail. It has six legs and an arrow marking similar to mine. It is a cloud like none other, tickling memories of a past life.

--

My daughter stares at me with wide eyes as she takes a shuddering breath. I sing to her and she snuggles closer to me. Unlike her brother, she likes my singing. Iroh is asleep next to us, resting peacefully.

They celebrated their second birthday the other day. The sky was exceptionally dark that day. My fears for my children grow with them. What is Ozai waiting for? Does he still have the ability to rain fire upon the Earth?

I long to flee to the earthen caverns, but I do not want to risk Kaya’s health. Song says the minerals of the sand and melted glacier nearby help keep my daughter’s condition in check. She says Mahari foresaw this and that that was the reason we were allowed to travel to the desert.

A shiver runs down my spine as I recall my one and only encounter with the seer of the resistance. Over the time I have spent with Song and Ola, I have realized how orchestrated the last few years have been. My fear over the fate of Iroh festers within me. I do not want him to be the Avatar. I have learned that the Sandbenders have been charged with protecting us from the hunters that stalked me throughout my pregnancy. They provide for us, bringing us food and water and news from abroad. The desert is our home now.

My nightmares have turned from Ozai to Mahari. I can feel their desire to control my son. They would take him from me even now if they could. Ozai’s wishes are blatant, whereas Mahari’s are subtle. Is it possible that the seer is more dangerous than the monster?

Kaya shifts against me and breaks my line of thoughts, tempering my rising panic. My heart wrenches as I look from my daughter to my son. They are both so young, thrust into this world by prophecy and…love.

Zuko. Moments pass when resentment and hatred bubble in my memories. My feelings have turned into a complex conundrum. No matter how much I want to stop loving him, I can’t. He haunts my dreams, making me ache with unresolved passion.

--

Surfacing from the core, I open my eyes and find Mahari watching me. It should make me uneasy, but it doesn’t.

“What do you want?” I ask her, eyeing her skeptically.

“I have news.” The seer crosses her legs in front of her as if trying to get comfortable.

Standing, I walk to an earthen basin, scoop up some water in my hands and splash it onto my face. “Are the troops in place? Will I be able to get into the palace to kill my father?”

“No,” she replies quickly, irritated with the question that I ask her every time I encounter her. The resistance is scattered. Their numbers are few. Their constant shifting of the tunnels around us take most of their time. I am impatient and long to confront my father and put an end to it all.

“Then why are you here?” I do not look at the woman before me, for I know that she can see things that one may not want seen. I remember thinking her a savior, but now realize how deceitful she really is.

She sighs. “I have news of your children and your lover.”

Time seems to stand still. It is the small moments in my life that make the most impact. My father scarred me for life, but that moment is a shadow compared to the day my uncle came back into my life. It was his companionship and wisdom that helped guide me toward the right path after the Agni Kai. It’s moments like this that can make or break a man.

“They are well,” she states, folding her hands into her sleeves. “You have a son and a daughter. Your son’s name is Iroh and your daughter’s name is Kaya. Katara looks well, but the separation and worry is a strain on her.”

My heart is bitterness and joy. I have a family – one that I will likely never see. Katara, with her passionate nature and love, named my son, as I would have.

“Iroh was born first,” Mahari continues, unperturbed by my lack of emotion. “He is the spitting image of his father…pale skin, yellow eyes, and dark hair. He is healthy and strong. Kaya looks like her mother. She is…sickly.”

My head snaps up. “What?”

“She has great difficulty breathing, but the minerals of the melted glacier and sand soothe the condition.”

“May I see them?” I blurt the question, already knowing the answer. If only I had a few moments with Katara to take back those things I said to her right before she left. If only I could take my children in my arms…

Mahari starts to back away, not answering the question. “It is late. You should get some rest.”

I watch her retreat, troubled by her report. I would sell my soul to Koh for a glimpse of my family and the opportunity to touch Katara. Lying on my sleeping bag, I close my eyes and will thoughts of her to the forefront of my dreams.

--

It is dark. I feel Katara’s tight muscles surround my sex. I lie within her body, peppering kisses upon her face, tasting salty moisture. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean those things I said. Please forgive me.”

She turns her head to avoid my kisses. “Please,” she whimpers, terror edging the one word.

I shift, unwilling to break the intimate connection. I find the oil lamp with my hand and light illuminates the dream scene before me. I pull back in horror as I realize that my lover is bound to the bed – an unwilling sacrifice beneath me.

I try to withdraw from her, but I am leaden and not in control of my own movements. It is then that I see the figures surrounding us – the three Fire Sages and my father.

One of the sages laughs as I redouble my efforts to control the dream. “We have him. He is trapped within the dream.”

Katara’s dark skin shines with sweat and the sight of her breast enraptures me as it sways with each breath she takes. I taste the flesh, swirling my tongue around the erect bud and clamping down on it with unrestrained lust.

She cries out, arching beneath me, her body trying to expel mine. “No, please! Stop!”

My body is not mine. I am helpless to prevent it. I want to close my eyes, but I can’t even do that much as my body thrusts into hers over and over again. The ecstasy of sensation is too much and I fill her with my seed.

“No!” I bellow, struggling to protect her.

Katara stills beneath me, as if she is half-dead. My father circles the bed, coddling a bundle in his arms. Tears fall unchecked down Katara’s face.

“Your daughter is beautiful,” my father murmurs, pulling the blanket back from the slumbering child’s face. “She looks just like her mother.”

I am numb, forced to witness my disgrace. I am unable to protect anyone, let alone myself.

Ozai leans closer, showing Katara our child, but addressing me. “Do you really think the Water Witch will forgive you for sacrificing her children to me? Poor Iroh…always destined to die by my hand.”

Katara lets out a strangled groan.

My blood freezes in my veins and I am pushed away by an unseen force. Katara’s bindings fall away and the sheets from the bed wrap around her like the wings of an avenging spirit.

The Fire Sages back away, one of them shouting that her actions are impossible. Kaya is yanked from my father’s arms by her mother’s powers, landing safely next to me. She is unaware of the turmoil around her.

Hissing, Ozai stumbles backwards as numerous ice daggers – so many that it looks like a block of ice – protrude from his skin. He is covered in blood.

“Release the dream!” A Fire Sage barks the command and the scene before me darkens into nothingness.

--

My heart races as I wake to find my children sleeping peacefully by my side. The nightmare was so real. I can still feel the ghost of Zuko’s touch on my skin and the rage over Ozai’s words. Was the nightmare a warning? Was it sent to me as a foretelling of things to come? Am I going mad?

I am paralyzed with fear. Should I send Iroh away? The question whispers in my mind as silent tears slide down my cheeks. Why would Ozai kill Iroh? Why not Kaya?

I crawl from the bed and wrap a shawl around my shoulders.

“Katara?” Sokka’s sleepy voice mumbles from across the room. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

I look out the window, taking small comfort at the sight of the full moon in the sky. “It’s nothing. Go back to sleep.”

--

TBC

A/N – Special thanks to Moncaptian for slapping me upside the head and making me rewrite this chapter. This is the third draft of this chapter. Between pain and painkillers for my wrists, I’ve been pretty out of it. I apologize for the delay in posting.