Raised in Earth (OC x Zuko) book 2

Chapter 14

A/N: So in this chapter, everything is sort of revealed. Please comment what you think at the end. This was always the plan from the first chapter of the first book, so enjoy!

~Caramel Rage.

ps: its really, really long cause it has a lot of information in it, so bear with me please.

We all woke up early to get ready for the big day. I dressed in the greenest, nicest clothes I had; which unfortunately consisted of a skirt and a pair or scandals. I wasn't sure why, but I always preferred to wear long boy-ish pants and boots, must be a past thing. Zuko and Iroh also dressed to impress, Zuko did most of the impressing in my eyes though. We summoned one of the carriages to bring us to our regal destination.

As we drew closer to the palace, I felt the pit in my stomach grow and grow. We then exited our ride and started walking up the steps to the palace doors.

"Many times, I imagined myself here, at the threshold of the palace. But I always thought I would be here as a conqueror...instead, we are the Earth King's personal guests, here to serve him tea. Destiny is a funny thing."  Iroh said, his voice full of gratitude.

"It sure is Uncle." Zuko said, extremely cheerful this morning. A pair of guards standing at the front doors asked for our invitation before opening the door to allow us entrance into the beautiful- and extremely green- world of Earth Kingdom Royalty. A servant met us and led us to an open room where we set up our tea things and waited for the Earth King to arrive.

Twenty or so minutes passed and we were still alone in the room. I could tell Zuko started to get suspicious of what was going on, as was I, but Iroh just sat there looking as elated as he had when he first got the letter.

"What's taking so long?" Zuko asked impatiently.

"Maybe the Earth King overslept." Iroh said hopefully, but we all knew something was up.

Suddenly a group of Dai Lee agents started entering single file into the room. Zuko and I sat defensively, ready for anything they would throw at us. Everything, that is, except for what happened.

"It's tea time." A girl's voice came from behind the agents, and its owner strutted out. Azula stood before us in an Earth Kingdom uniform with a demonic smirk on her face.

"Azula!" Zuko stood up, ready for a fight.

"Bitch!" I copied his motion.

"Have you met the Dai Li?" She asked innocently. "They're Earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that is so... Firebender, I just love it!" This is why I had such a bad feeling earlier.

Iroh stood next to me with his tea in hand, seeming calm.

"Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname the "Dragon of the West"?" He asked his niece.

"I'm not interested in a lengthy anecdote, Uncle." Azula examined her nails in a bored fashion

"It's more of a demonstration really. Iroh took a sip of his tea and Zuko grabbed my hand, giving me a 'get ready' look. Suddenly, Zuko ducked behind Iroh and pulled me with him just before the ex general went into a fire bending stance, opened his mouth and breathed a powerful torrent of fire at the Dai Li. The agents lower their heads and lift their gloved hands to shield themselves, and when they brought the shield down to attack, we were already gone. Iroh had blown a hole in the wall and we were running for our lives. He opened another wall and jumped out, landing in a bush, but Zuko and I just stood there.

"Come on. You'll be fine!" He called up at us, but I wasn't jumping until Zuko did.

"No. I'm tired of running. It's time I faced Azula!" Zuko shouted back dramatically. He turned and headed back to the fight. I looked down at Iroh and shrugged apologetically before following him. pretty soon, Azula and her minions had us cornered.