From Assassin To Queen

Punishment

Mei

My blood was boiling as I watched the two of them in the garden together. The sight of her arms around him was infuriating. Zuko never let me hold him or hug him when we were kids yet here he is letting a stranger comfort him, a peasant, a nobody.

I told that tramp to stay away from him and yet she blatantly ignored my orders. She went right to him instead of packing her bags and leaving but no matter I'll make sure they both learn their lesson.

I headed straight to the throne room where I knew he still was, forced my way through the guards, and walked straight towards him. "We have a problem". "Which is"? "Zuko. He's allowing himself to get close to that outsider girl, I saw the two of them hugging in the garden last night there's no telling how long this has been going on".

"I'll handle it".

Zuko

It was early morning as I walked towards my bedroom after escorting Katara to hers. The whole night we spent together in the garden in each other's arms. I heard her when she said she had originally lied about how her parents had abandoned her and Sokka but I didn't care.

I felt safe in her arms, at peace even. For a long time, it's been where I haven't been able to relax at all. I'm always on edge, always on guard for when my fathers in one of his bad moods.

I have to be. He isn't a man you want to underestimate. There's nothing he won't do to get what he wants or lengths he won't cross.

"Prince Zuko, your father wishes to see you". One of the guards said. I sighed and headed straight towards the throne room. I was tired but knew it was better to get this over with now than wait. Once there the guards announced my entrance and closed the door behind me immediately. I was a little surprised to see Mei standing next to him but didn't pay any mind to it.

"You've been acting out a lot recently Zuko, more than usual". I looked at him confused. "What do you mean by that"? "You ask unnecessary questions, talk back to your training office, skip out on training, refuse to help with the wedding plans and now you've gone and have gotten close to the servant girl. Mei was looking for you last night and found you in the garden in her arms. What do you have to say for yourself"?

"Katara and I were just getting to know each other that's all". Without warning a sharp pain surged through my leg I let out a loud scream and held it as I was brought to the ground. I wasn't looking but could feel a liquid on my hand as I held my leg trying to get the pain to stop.

Blood

When I looked up I saw Zhao standing behind me with a smirk on his face and dagger in hand. Uncle rushed into the room after hearing me scream but was soon held back by the guards. "Good of you to join us, dear brother, you can watch as I teach my son a lesson".

He stood up from his seat making his way over to me and I did the same. When he was close enough I swung my good leg up for a kick but he managed to block grabbing it and punching me in the face.

I stumbled a bit before turning around getting ready for a punch but was met with a punch to the gut instead. "Weak".

I glared at him before trying to trip him up but he managed to grab the back of my head and bring his knee up to hit me in the face.

"Pathetic".

Blood splattered across my face as I was hit in the head followed by a chop and kick to my back. "Despite what you may believe I was happy when you were born. Finally, I had a son, an heir that would be able to continue on my legacy but you had to end up being a screw-up.

If I had known you would have been such a disappointment I would've had you aborted ". My eyes widened in shock as soon as I heard the words escape his mouth. He had said a lot of awful things over the years but that was by far the worst.

"Hold him down". Two guards made their way over to me. One forced my head up while the other placed a knee on my back. I had no idea what my father had in store for me but looked at him with nothing but pure fear as he walked back with a bucket of hot charcoal. I tried my best to fight back against the guards but it was no use their hold on me was too strong.

"Remember you only have yourself to blame for this". We're the last words before I had hot coals placed onto my face.

Katara

I couldn't stop thinking about last night and how Zuko allowed himself to open up to me about his past and actually allow himself to cry in my arms. It's obvious he's been holding in a lot of pain which is making this mission even more hard.

I don't want to take advantage of him. I don't want to take advantage of his kindness. He's been nothing but good to me since I've arrived. It's not right to use him as a way of getting to his father.

I wanna be completely honest with him. I want to tell him everything about myself and hope he'll be able to forgive me as well as Sokka. Coming clean means his cover will be blown as well.

"Katara, come with me now". I looked yo to see Sokka running towards me. His face was frantic as if he had just seen something terrifying. "What's going on"? "It's Zuko, we need to hurry".

Zuko

All color drained from my face at the mention of him being in trouble. Sokka took off and I followed behind him as fast as I could. He made a B line for Zuko's room confusing me since he's usually in the library during the mornings but I understood as soon as I saw him.

My eyes widened in shock as I looked at all the bruises on him but what stuck out the most was the large burn mark on his face. "Zuko"!

Word Count: 1098