Freedom

Chapter 26: The Secrets Best Kept

Minutes ticked by slowly.

She tried to keep time by tapping her foot but time moved faster then her mind could comprehend.

But still, minutes turned to hours.

Zuko felt the sun at its highest point in the sky, tingling in his veins, begging him to bust into the open air and fight.

He knew there was only a few hours left.

The door swung open and two guards stepped inside. Zuko glared back at them but didn't fight when they peeled him off the floor and forced him to stand.

"Going early are we?" He asked them in a mocking tone.

"Not quite" a shrill familiar voice was heard on the other side of the door. Azula sauntered into the room.

Zuko stared at her, but remained quiet.

She walked towards him, her heels clicking on the metal as she walked. She stopped when she was inches from his face.

Her eyes never left his, each holding a mutual hatred for each other.

He was so focused on Azula that he barely felt the pinch on his arm. Zuko looked down to see a vial of a purple shiny liquid flowing into his arm.

As soon as the liquid hit his veins, the tingling in his body stopped. His pull from the sun went away as if it never existed in the first place.

"What did you..." he started to ask, but he was also unsure if he wanted to know the answer.

Azula smirked at him, "A sedative... to slow your bending" she pulled the empty vial up to her face and examined it, "Can't have you slowing down your death can we?"

Zuko didn't give her any satisfaction of a reaction. He looked away from her, but he felt the pompous smirk that stayed present on her face.

Azula rolled her eyes, "Bring him to her..."

Katara heard the rustle in the cell next door and bolted up, trying to listen through the wall. She heard the muffled voices but could not make out any words.

She heard his cell door open once again and knocked 3 times, asking if he was okay.

She waited a moment but no immediate response came. A panic began to build in her belly.

Did they take him already?

Was it time?

But just as she was starting to spiral, the lock on her door began to click open.

She turned to the noise as Zuko was flung into her cell.

Her mind flashed her back to a few weeks ago at the crystal catacombs in Ba Sing Se. It seemed like so long ago but yet only yesterday.

She remembered how she screamed at him, wondering if it was all some sick joke to capture Aang when he came to rescue her.

But this time when his body hit the floor at her feet, she rushed to him, "Zuko!" she cried out, pulling him close to her.