The Pawn |Katara

NINETEEN

TW: Implied murder

The dining room of the Fire Nation's palace was a wide room that was usually sank in silence. The only people who ate there were Zuko and Mai, with the exception of a few times when Zuko's friends came over but those times were scarce and truly, other than Akira and perhaps Ty Lee, no other person in the Fire Nation could be truly considered Zuko's friend. For most who visited, there was an unspoken rule around the table they had had to obey to ever since they had been kids - no one talked while they sat around the table. So the dining room was sank mostly in silence even when there were people inside. And yet, that was not quite the case this evening.

"Zuko, pass me the meat, will you?" Sokka called out to Zuko from the other side of the table as Toph sitting next to him chewed her food with her mouth slightly open. Akira briefly glanced that way, not missing Katara's soft shake of her head from where she sat beside him. Before Zuko could move, he reached for the meat and passed it over. Sokka grinned at him.

"Thank you, Akira!"

He smiled in a reserved manner, "You're welcome."

Mai sitting on Akira's right side kept on eating in silence, as did Zuko, sitting at the head of the table on Mai's other side. Next to him sat Aang, who hadn't stopped talking to Zuko ever since they had sat down. Half of the Avatar's attention was on Zuko, the other half was on Katara, his gaze jumping from the Fire Lord to the waterbender. Katara acted as if she had no idea what he was doing but Akira knew from the way she seemed more rigid than usual that she knew what was going on.

Sokka's and Toph's side of the table was buzzing with noise. Sokka sat directly opposite Zuko, in between Katara and Toph, talking and eating so quickly Akira was almost convinced he had been starving before he came into the dining room, even though he knew Mai and Zuko had been feeding him well while he had been in the Fire Nation. In between Toph and Aang sat Jaya. She had been quiet from the start, as had Akira, and occassionally, she would look up at him from where she sat directly opposite him and look for a while. Once he had caught her gaze, she would look for a moment longer and then look away.

Akira was rather glad when finally, when almost everyone had finished eating-he doubted Sokka ever stopped eating at all-Zuko spoke up.

"I would like to thank all of you for coming. I know you must have been busy back in your homes."

"We were," Sokka sassed, "you are welcome, though."

"You called for us, Zuko," Katara sent a look at her brother and then turned back to Zuko with a small smile. "We wouldn't miss it."

"We have got to admit your hospitality isn't as it used to be, though," Sokka mused and even though Akira didn't know him that well-if he knew him at all-he could tell he wasn't attempting to be serious. His suspicions were confirmed when Sokka lifted his head to look Zuko in the eyes and he noticed the frown he was trying so hard to keep on his lips. "Two out of the three people you were supposed to guard while they attempted to reach the palace were assaulted. You can't call that a good statistic."

Zuko seemed unaffected. "Of course, I apologise. I hope the soft beds made up for my previous incompetence to keep you safe as your host."

Toph smirked as Sokka leaned back with a wide smile. "Apology accepted."

"Why is he here?" All turned to Jaya at the sound of her voice, but when he turned Akira realised she was staring right at him. After a moment, she turned to Zuko. "I understand why the rest of us are here. What about him?"

"He will help us realise our plans," he explained in a tone calm enough to match Jaya's. "Akira's someone I trust."

Akira briefly glanced at Zuko and then at Mai, but he received no answer or reaction. She didn't look away from the spot on the table she had been staring at and when no concern was raised, Zuko continued.