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Now I'm walking in, walking into the fire;
[ It's been a long couple of months. Things had been alright, in the beginning, of course. Through all his travels, Zuko had wanted nothing more than to come back home and be welcomed by his father's side, to be accepted as prince and son, again. But despite that, despite the fact that he should be happy the avatar is gone and that everything is working in his father's favor...part of him is at unease. He feels unsteady, almost. Like the path he's walking is the one he shouldn't have chosen. Maybe it's his uncle's words finally getting to him--because he has been going to see him, down in the prison. He does care, even if he can 't always show it--but his mind keeps going back to when Azula found them, to the Avatar's death and everything that had followed.
Maybe that's why he asks about Katara when he does.
Honestly, he's appalled to hear of her condition. Yes, she's an enemy of the state. But that doesn't mean she should be treated like she is. She's still a person, enemy or no. But Zuko isn't really sure what he can do to change things. He tries reasoning with his father, but that goes nowhere very quickly. All it really earns him is a disapproving stare. So, he confides in his uncle. Iroh, frustratingly enough, doesn't give him a straight answer, but Zuko knows in his heart what his stance would be.
Not that that helps with the decision. It just leaves him feeling more divided than before. What should he do? Should he remain by his fathers side and support his decisions? Or should he go against everything he's worked for, to do what he knows is the right thing? He waffles, struggles with himself. He makes some minor preparations to aid in her escape and then does nothing with them.
It goes on like that until one day he just...ends up there, standing in front of where she's being held. He has no real plan and no idea if he'll actually be able to get her out and away before someone realizes what's going on, but in the time it took him to get from the palace to the prison, he's come to realize that he's got to try. He owes it to himself, to his uncle, and to his past. He makes sure there are no guards looking in his direction, and ducks through the doorway into the small space in front of her cell. He'd snagged the keys from the guardhouse earlier in the week, on a whim, so all he really has to do is free her and help her escape as subtly as possible. So far things were going well, so maybe it would actually work in their favor.
He stands there a long time, on the precipice of decision, caught between two halves. He can still turn back. He can still be a good son and act like this is fine, like he doesn't actually care what happens to any of the people outside his own nation....but would that be right? He would be making Ozai proud, but what about Iroh and his mother? What about himself?
He takes a slow step forward, and somehow manages to find his voice despite the knot in his throat. ]
Katara.
Maybe that's why he asks about Katara when he does.
Honestly, he's appalled to hear of her condition. Yes, she's an enemy of the state. But that doesn't mean she should be treated like she is. She's still a person, enemy or no. But Zuko isn't really sure what he can do to change things. He tries reasoning with his father, but that goes nowhere very quickly. All it really earns him is a disapproving stare. So, he confides in his uncle. Iroh, frustratingly enough, doesn't give him a straight answer, but Zuko knows in his heart what his stance would be.
Not that that helps with the decision. It just leaves him feeling more divided than before. What should he do? Should he remain by his fathers side and support his decisions? Or should he go against everything he's worked for, to do what he knows is the right thing? He waffles, struggles with himself. He makes some minor preparations to aid in her escape and then does nothing with them.
It goes on like that until one day he just...ends up there, standing in front of where she's being held. He has no real plan and no idea if he'll actually be able to get her out and away before someone realizes what's going on, but in the time it took him to get from the palace to the prison, he's come to realize that he's got to try. He owes it to himself, to his uncle, and to his past. He makes sure there are no guards looking in his direction, and ducks through the doorway into the small space in front of her cell. He'd snagged the keys from the guardhouse earlier in the week, on a whim, so all he really has to do is free her and help her escape as subtly as possible. So far things were going well, so maybe it would actually work in their favor.
He stands there a long time, on the precipice of decision, caught between two halves. He can still turn back. He can still be a good son and act like this is fine, like he doesn't actually care what happens to any of the people outside his own nation....but would that be right? He would be making Ozai proud, but what about Iroh and his mother? What about himself?
He takes a slow step forward, and somehow manages to find his voice despite the knot in his throat. ]
Katara.
no subject
She'd been in shock for a long time, with soul crushing grief and loss nipping closely at its heels, but eventually it all began to settle and sink in. The world's last hope was gone, the avatar cycle broken. Another member of her family taken away at the hands of the Fire Nation. While Zuko was wrestling with his growing moral dilemma Katara was left to wait out the days trying desperately to pick up the pieces, cling to some scrap of hope, trying not to be buried under her anger and pain, and wondering why the Fire Lord and Azula were even bothering to keep her alive. Well... somewhat at least, as she really didn't want to dwell too long on the possibilities.
Sleep didn't come easy at first, but eventually the weight of it all left her too exhausted to do much else. It was fitful, between the nightmares and the abrupt wake up calls from the guards when it was time to eat or drink, but it was better than nothing. She had more than enough time to consider what was going to happen to the world outside, to wonder if her brother, Toph, and the others had managed to get away, and what the state of things was now. And under all of that she had to hope that they were looking for her, that they'd find a way to turn the war around and put a stop to the Fire Lord and his psychotic daughter and- ...
Whenever her thoughts reached the banished prince the pain would come back anew. Was it her fault that Aang was killed? Was it her fault for actually thinking that Zuko was capable of changing? Would it have made a difference if she'd known better?
Katara.
His voice always seemed so vivid when she replayed those moments in the catacombs, so sincere and heartfelt, and she'd fallen for it hook line and sinker.
That's something we have in common.
Why had she ever trusted him? Why did she ever think she could believe he'd make the right choice? Now no amount of hope was going to bring Aang back from the dead. He was gone, just like her mother, and once again there wasn't anything she'd been able to do about it.
"Katara."
Oh. Wait... no, that wasn't Aang's voice this time, playing as a memory, she knew that soft rasp.
Slowly she lifted her head to glare up at him past her hair, messy, matted, unbound. Her clothes just as tattered and filthy from the fight in the catacombs as when she and Iroh and Aang's body had been taken from Ba Sing Sei. The fight wasn't gone completely from her eyes by a long shot but it was noticeably duller. Still, somehow the look managed to toe the line between anger, loathing, and something chilling cold.
She didn't say a word of acknowledgement, just glared. The question didn't need to be asked and even if she'd tried her voice would have sounded little better than his, weak and faint from disuse and borderline dehydration.]
no subject
Zuko tries not to think too much about the state she's in, but it's hard to ignore all the little details while he's standing right there. Hearing about it had been one thing, but seeing her like this, locked up and unkempt is another thing entirely. What's worse is he knows he had a hand in her ending up here. His sister is strong, sure, but if he had chosen differently that day, maybe--No, he knows things would have happened differently. Four against one are odds even Azula would struggle with. They could have all gotten away before the dai li intervened. Katara and Iroh would never have ended up imprisoned.
Zuko had only ever been enemies with Katara and the others, it gives him little reason to care about their well being and he knows it. But at the same time, he can't help but feel some kind of comradery with Katara. Their time together in the catacombs had been brief, but he can still hear her voice; The fire nation took everything from me. And it keeps on taking, he thinks, and part of him wonders if maybe it will keep doing so until there's nothing left.
He edges closer to the cell and casts a nervous look over his shoulder, to make sure no one's coming. ]
I'm here to help.
[ He knows she has little reason to believe in or trust him. He hardly trusts himself at this point, can practically feel his two opposing halves fighting for supremacy. But this isn't really a matter of trust, so he hopes she'll at least listen to him. He has nothing to gain and everything to lose, after all, so it's not like he would have something up his sleeve. ]
I can get you out of here.
no subject
In fact, the first thing that she wants to tell him is what he can go jump off of, or maybe that doe doesn't want his help- and she doesn't. Katara wants nothing more to do with the prince again. If she weren't locked up and bound completely she would have probably turned her back and refused to have said a word but since there wasn't much choice in the matter...]
What makes you think I'd ever trust anything else you had to say?
[Did that question sting? She hoped so, because it was supposed to. A reminder that she hadn't forgotten what had happened the last time she'd given him her trust, a mistake she wouldn't be making again. Whatever his goal was, Katara was determined NOT to help him see it through this time.]
no subject
So, he thinks about his Uncle, and imagines what he might say to him right then; Anger is like the ocean, nephew. It eats away the cliffs, but is only truly useful when it is able to embrace the calm. Or..something. He's not wise like Uncle is, he can't even really pretend to be. But he needs to try right now, for the sake of keeping his cool. ]
You don't have to trust me. But if you want to make out of the city, you're going to need my help.
[ He pauses, stepping a little closer to the door. ]
I just need to know you're not going to attack me as soon as I let you go.