Zutara - Their Spark

Chapter Six - The King

A few yards away Sokka and Toph were pacing anxiously, Appa laying behind them. Katara raced toward her brother.

"Sokka!" She jumped into his embrace, loving the comfort that he gave her. They may not have always been this intimate when it came to feelings but after that intense fight, she felt no shame in needing a hug from her brother.

"Are you okay?" He asked, pulling her away to examine her. She nodded and remembered that Zuko was hurt. She turned to see them making their way over, Aang was already climbing on Appa.

"Everyone get on, we still have work to do." Aang ordered with the reigns already in his hands. Katara watched him carefully, the guru must have helped him reach the Avatar state. He was different. She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing yet.

"Why are they here?" Sokka asked, jumping into a defensive position. His boomerang high above his head. Katana glanced back at Zuko and Iroh.

"They are helping us. We wouldn't have gotten out alive if not for them." Katara scolded, putting a hand on his weapon to lower it.

Sokka frowned but put his boomerang back in its holster. Once they were all on Appa, Katara moved toward Zuko.

"Can I see?" She kept her voice quiet and gentle, pointing to his back. He nodded and started removing his clothing. The back was burned to shreds.

"Whoa! No funny business!" Sokka hollered and looked like he was about to tackle Zuko.

"He's hurt!" Katara hissed back, fed up with his judgement. She sighed and turned back to Zuko. When she saw his back a gasp forced its way out. "Oh my." She whispered. His back was raw and bright red with the burnt flesh. It looked extremely painful. "How are you even upright?" She asked and quickly grabbed a canteen of water from Toph.

"Hey! I was drinking that!" She scolded, but didn't try to grab it back.

Katara quickly coated her hands with the liquid and gentely caressed his back. She tried to remain focused as the water started to shimmer and glow. It still surprised her, how beautiful it was.

As she did her work, Zuko let out an involuntary sigh when the pain subsided. The cool water soothed the red hot pain. And then there was something else. The soft and slow movement of her hands brought him comfort. He couldn't remember the last time he was touched like this. Without thinking, he leaned back slightly, pressing into her palms. Neither of them said a word.

When they landed, Katara was still healing him. He felt her hands pull away and she said, "I'll have to finish later, it's still pretty bad." He nodded and moved to put his tattered clothes back on.

"What are we going to do now?" He asked, wondering what the plan was.

"For now, we have to find the King and tell him everything that has happened." Aang answered from down below. He grabbed Toph's hand while Sokka had her other and the lowered her to the ground. She sighed when her feet made contact and she could see.

"Are we all going?" Katara asked, she'd really like to finish healing Zuko before it got infected.

"Yes, we should all be on the same page. There are other things we need to discuss as well." Aang spoke clearly and with authority. No one objected.

They rushed into the building and Iroh warned, "Careful, the Dai Ly are still being controlled by Long Fe."

Zuko suddenly wondered what happened between Iroh and Azula while he was locked away. He studied his uncle but didn't notice any dangerous changes. Content for now, he focused on keeping a watch for any trouble.

They made their way through the capital without any problems, but when Zuko bust through the doors to the throne room, the same ones from less than a day ago, they saw close to two dozen Dai Ly agents surrounding the room.

However, Long Fe was nowhere in sight. The King sat happily on his throne and jumped in surprise when he saw the rally of kids in front of him.

"Friends! How are you? How are the plans coming?" He walked forward to greet them. Before the King could descend down a step he was stopped by one of the Dai Ly. "What are you doing?"

"We don't know who our allies are, my Lord." The soldier spoke quietly.

"Long Fe has been taken care of, the Kyoshi imposters are gone, I see no threat." The sudden seriousness of the King's tone surprised the soldier, who stepped back in line.

"What happened to Long Fe?" Iroh spoke up from the front of the group. "Last I saw he was about to over throw you."

"It is not a concern for you, however, after the fake Kyoshi warriors, I enlisted my most trusted help to stay by my side and dismissed any traitors into a temporary prison while we work to expel them from the city." He smiled warmly at Katara. "I do hope they didn't hurt you or your friend here. It has recently come to my understanding that I should step up my duties as King. Including protection from corruption."

"Of course." Katara nodded, glancing at Zuko when the King mentioned her "friend."

"Now, lets go to my room and debrief over what happened the last few hours." The King motioned for them to follow him back out into the hall, the Dai Ly trailing behind.

Katara was more than surprised at the sudden change in the King's personality. He had been a bubbling eccentric person, but now he seemed . . . different. Sad. Something must have happened when Azula took over. Something that devastated him.

It occurred to her then that she hadn't seen his bear.

At the head of the table sat the King. Katara and Zuko across from one another, Aang at her side and Iroh at Zuko's. Followed by Sokka and Toph.

"Why don't we start with this morning." The King prompted. It was quiet for a moment before Toph spoke up.

"Well Aang, Sokka, Katara and I were all separated. Katara was the only one here." She gestured to Katara who cleared her throat.

"I was on my way to deliver the war plans to you," Katara nodded at the King. "When I saw Zuko and ran off to inform you of what I thought was a infiltration." She turned her attention to Zuko, "Which was wrong and I apologize for." She looked at Iroh and knew that it affected him as well. "But Azula and her friends were disguised as the Kyoshi warriors-"

"Wait, Suki isn't here?" Sokka asked, alarmed.

"Have you seen her?" Toph asked sarcastically.

Sokka mumbled quietly, "Have you?"

"But they captured Zuko and I and threatened to capture Iroh as well as plan something with Long Fe." Katara held a hand out to Iroh, hoping he would fill in a gap.

"Azula sent a few of the Dai Ly for me and I fought them off. I knew something was wrong with my nephew so I went to the capital building. He wasn't there, however I found the Avatar and his friends talking to the King when I arrived." Iroh explained calmly.

"When we left you were still interrogating Long Fe, has he been banished?" Sokka spoke up.

The King looked somber, "Something like that." He frowned and shook his head. "Continue, please."

"Well, we went looking for Katara and Zuko, hoping that we could fight off Azula and whoever she had backing her." Aang took control for the last part of the story. "We knew they were in trouble but we didn't realize how much. We left Sokka up to guard Appa because there were a lot of benders down below, and Iroh suggested that Sokka shouldn't be unprotected but I was afraid Zuko wouldn't trust us if I showed up with anyone besides his uncle. With Toph and Sokka above we fought down below." He finished.

Zuko cleared his throat, speaking for the first time. "We left Azula under a rock dome and the her loyal Dai Ly frozen."

Katara nodded and looked to the King. "Did you ever receive the war plans?" She asked.

"Yes, I found them in Azula's room when we searched the castle." He replied absent mindedly.

"What do you think?" Katara questioned. "Can we get it done?"

The King looked up then. "Yes. I believe we can."