Zuko x OC : The Phoenix Princess

Chapter 11

Aria ended up staying with the Avatar and his friends. How exactly, she doesn't know, she just did. Aria wasn't complaining though, they were great people and they took care of and helped her. And she tried to repay them by doing as much as she could. She helped them put fliers for Appa, she cooked, she cleaned, she even tried teaching Aang firebending but she wasn't very successful at that. Aang did not seem to get phoenix firebending or firebending in general. Aria thinks he is afraid of it too. She tried to give it a rest for a while and maybe they could try some other time in the future.

Currently, Aria was with Katara. She said they had to get some papers to the Earth King. Aria had agreed to help her, plus she wanted to get out of the house more often now that the all 'girl on the train' commotion had calmed down in the area they were at. 

"So, Aria and Momo what do you guys say if we get some tea before going to the Earth King?" Katara asked seeing the teashop nearby.

Aria nodded her head with a smile. She really missed tea especially the one that her mother made. Before nostalgia could cloud her mind completely, Katara took her hand and dragged her to the entrance of the shop.

"Table for three, please" Aria heard her say, but she was too busy looking at the teashop. It was spacy and had a welcoming aura around it, it was really nice. Before she could take a step in the shop, she heard a gasp from Katara and she felt her grab her hand and started running to the opposite direction.

"Katara! Slow down, what the hell?!"  Aria asked completely confused and kind of scared since Katara looked like she had seen a gost.

"We have to get away from this place and tell the Earth King that they are here!" Katara said almost out of breath

"But the tea!-" Aria begun

"No time to explain we have to get to the Earth King" Katara said running even faster

Aria decided to not ask further questions and trust Katara, even though the curiosity was killing her. They reached the palace in no time and barged in with a frantic Katara and a very confused and embarrased Aria. This was the throne room of a King! How can they just get in like that? How familliar with the king are these people?!

"Sukki! We have to warn the King! Firebenders are in the city!" Katara said approaching Sukki. 

So this was Sukki, the girl Sokka always talked about. Aria couldn't really tell how she looked because of the make-up, but there was something familiar about her.

"Please, Sukki we have to inform the King! Prince Zuko and General Iroh of the Fire Nation are in the city!" Aria froze when she heard that. 'Zuko is here? And General Iroh too? But how did she... The teaship!' Aria felt millions of thoughts running in her head. That's why Katara ran off like that! The people that they were chasing them was the Prince and his uncle!

Aria felt her whole body tremble, her legs almost failing to support her, her heart started speading up. 'He is here... I can't believe this..How? When did he?..And he is chasing them?..The stories were true? Is he trying to kill them? Why is my heart racing? Why am I feeling like this? What in the world is happening?!' Before pure panic could overtake Aria's thoughts and body a voice took her attention. She didn't exactly understand what the words meant but she knew that voice. But it couldn't be her...right?

Aria looked up and saw 'Sukki' getting closer to her and Katara. That's when it hit her, the reason this girl was so familiar to her. It was Azula! Aria looked at Katara and by the look on her face it seemed she recoginsed her too. After a few seconds of realising that the other two were Ty Lee and Mai, Katara was already attacking Azula with water and Ty Lee took lead fighting her. Next thing she knew, Katara was chi blocked and fell down on the floor completely paralized with momo flying out of the palace as soon as it happened. That's when Aria snapped out of her trance. 

Aria started attacking Ty Lee who was near Katara. She started throwing rings after rings of fire at Ty Lee and Azula while dodging Mai's knives. They were surprised at first but they soon started to gain ground. Aria knew she couldin't take the tree of them together. She had to get Katara and go. Before she knew it a knife was thrown near her head scraching her left cheek. She threw a ball of fire at Mai only for it to be blocked by Azula. When Aria dodged Azula's next attack she played right into Ty Lee's hands. And before she knew it, she fell on the ground on her right side, chi blocked and unable to move muscle.

"So, this filthy phoenix firebender joined the Avatar. How more disgraceful to the Firelord can you be?" Azula asked with a smirk

"He is not my Firelord since he banished me for a petty reason" Aria said looking at Azula dead in the eye. The Princess's face changed to one of rage 

"How dare you defy him! Don't blame your own mistake of an existence to the Firelord! You know that you shouldn't even be alive, you filthy phoenix! Be more grateful that he let you work this long in his own house, even after your father betrayed him!" she yelled at Aria and stomping on her left side of the head. Aria saw stars for a little while from the pain but she tried to stay focused.

"So, my brother and uncle are in Ba Sing Se too, huh?" Azula turned and said to her two friends with a completely different attitude. Aria turned to see Katara and she was looking at her with a worried expression. Aria guessed it was because of the injuries, she already felt a bruise forming on her cheek. 

"Dai Li, take these two to the dungeon!" she heard Azula said, and Aria felt herself being pulled up by rock like hands.

Katara and her were thrown into a cave like prison filled with green glowing crystals with the door being, immediately, shut behind them. After a few minutes they started to gain some control over their bodies and could sit up more comfortably.

"Hey Katara, can i ask you something? But I want the truth, please" Aria looked at Katara after a few minutes of silence

"Sure" Katara said smiling faintly at her. 

"For how long has Zuko being chasing you?" Aria asked somewhat hesitant. 

"How did you know it was Zuko?" Katara asked

"You mentioned it to Azula when you thought she was Sukki" Aria said simply

"Oh! Yes well you are right he is chasing us. Aang to be more specific. He wants to capture him and take him to the Fire Lord so he can't go back to his palace." Katara said with a scoff and bitterness.

"Oh, I see" Aria said with a wisper

"You know him, don't you? You worked at his palace after all. How come you didn't see him at the teashop." Katara said with question in her voice

"Yes I know him. But the Zuko I remember is completely different from the one you and the others have discribed as the the person who follows and chases you around the world. I just can't believe it's the same person. And no I didn't see him, there were so many people at the shop and he probably has changed a lot." Aria said with sadness in her voice. 

With her tone of voice, Katara came to the realisation that Aria misses Zuko even though she hasn't noticed it herself. Maybe there was something between them, at least with the 'old' Zuko as Aria said. It must be a shock for her to learn all that about him. But she decided to not adress it now. 

"Well, it's not that difficult with the scar on his face" Katara commented instead.

"What scar?" Aria asked

Before Katara could voice her confusion on how Aria didn't know about Zuko's scar, the door to their cave cell opened and in was thrown a person. The door closed and he looked up at Aria and Katara. 

"Zuko" Katara said with venom and anger while Zuko looked up at her with an almost blank face. And Aria had to take a step back to calm her racing heart and gather herself from the sock.