When Worlds Collide: Book Three, Fire

Chapter Seven

/////Sam's POV\\\\\

Four days away from the eclipse, the Fire Lord and Azula moved most of the palace staff into a secret bunker deep within the volcano, and I was kept under surveillance at all times. The only time I didn't have a guard with me was when I was in the company of the royal family, or Mai and Tai Lee. My lessons with Azula were paying off, and I could control the fire in my mind with little effort. Water, however, was another story; it was more difficult, like learning a second language.

"Will you please just leave me alone?" I snapped, rounding on Jaang, my personel body guard. "We're in a volcano. Where am I going to go?"

He just rolled his eyes. In truth, I sort of liked Jaang. Sometimes he let me takes walks by myself, or sneaked me dessert in the middle of the night. So really, a great guy.

"If you don't want me following you around, why don't you go hang out with Ming or someone?" he suggested. Ming was another servant at the palace who I enjoyed spending time with. She was in charge of bringing Iroh his meals while he was in prison, and passed messages between the two of us. She was nice as well, and more than once we traded gossip about the Fire Nation.

"She took off for the day," I sighed. "Said she wasn't feeling well."

"Finally ran her off too, huh?" Jaang chuckled, and I glared.

"Make yourself useful and make me tea," I said, throwing a pillow at him.

He danced out of the way as there was knock on my door, and he went to answer it. There, was Zuko with a weird look on his face, and dark bags under his eyes. He gave Jaang a look, and the buff guy shifted uncomfortably.

"I'll go make that tea now," he told me, and after bowing to Zuko, left the room.

I stood up from my bed with a smile, and Zuko walked over, taking my hands and pulling me back down with him. "Sam," he started, "todays the eclipse. And I'm not really sure what's going to happen."

"This sounds like a goodbye," I teased, but he didn't smile. Instead, his lips landed on mine, gently, but with something behind it - worry? Panic? I kissed back hesitantly, before pulling away.

"Are you okay?" I asked, cupping his cheek with my hand. "You seem pale. Paler than usual."

He chuckled, and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "I'm fine. Everything will be fine; I promise."

"You're scaring me," I told him, scrunching my eyebrows. "You're planning something, aren't you?"

The door slammed open, and Azula stood there, her arms crossed as she leaned against the door frame. "Zuzu, I need our dearest Sammy," she sighed.

I glared at the nickname, and sent Zuko a 'We'll-talk-about-this-later' look, and stood up. "Guess I'm not getting that tea, huh?" I asked as I passed the princess.

"The eclipse is almost upon us," Azula stated, ignoring me. "The moronic invasion force is still busy with our decoys, but Father wants you in a secure location just in case."

"Wait... they actually invaded?" I asked, stopping in my tracks.

"You seem surprised," Azula shrugged, raising an eyebrow.

I mumbled incoherent words, before following her through the tunnels. Mai and Tai Lee emerged from the shadows, and flanked us, but I was used to their weird antics, so didn't' question it. We entered a massive room with nothing but two chairs. Azula lounged in the larger one, while I plopped down into the smaller one on her right. Mai and Tai Lee went their separate ways, leaving us be, and I watched the doors for a while, before losing interest, and setting random patches of dirt on fire to cure my boredom.