Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender

Chapter 1: In the Fire Palace

As a shadow, she silently slipped through the palace's hallways. She moved fast and careful, stopping to listen in when a sound reached her and warily blending in the dark corners when someone appeared. It was her luck that the walls were a dark red with torches illuminating her way, but even then, she didn't stand out as one would think. Few people walked around that part of the palace and the guards didn't move from their place unless there was a disturbance. Thankfully, she had mastered more than just her bending during the four years she had been in the Fire Nation.

Like a master thief, she looked around making sure that no one was there to see as she pulled a torch and the wall opened to show a hidden passage. Slipping in, she waited for the secret door to close before moving to her right and, after making a few turns, stopping in the darkness. To anyone else, that part of the passage had nothing of importance, but to her, it was the source of her information. While the wall looked normal and dark, if she brushed her hand right in front of her, a little bump could be felt. That bump was a switch to the private office of the Fire Prince.

It was by pure chance that she discovered the net of tunnels and passageways around the palace and she had to thank the servants for that. It had been after she began working as the kitchen cleaning/garbage disposing lady. A couple of maids were gossiping about the prince and his new concubine when the conversation steered toward more unusual topics. Among them, a rumor about secret doors left behind by a long forgotten paranoid Fire Lord. Katara grasped the possibility when she had a chance and began to look more closely at the walls as she passed them. It had taken her sometime to discover one of the entrances but when she did, she was set for life. The complex series of tunnels lead everywhere in the palace and she had taken her time to learn every nick and crane about them. Discovering that the passages had been unused for several years was but a plus.

Taking total advantage of the situation, she began to listen to important discussions regarding army movements and future plans. She had even found out about a group of fire nation rebels and proceeded to help them with what she could. Until that day, Katara hadn't had any kind of problem with her stay in the Fire Nation. They treated her like trash and barely talked to her but she didn't complain. Besides, she was undercover and her appearance didn't exactly attract much attention. Or maybe because it did, things had worked out fine; although she wasn't particularly fond of her disguise. As Kya, her face was always dirty, her hair tangled and her nails bitten and greasy. Her dark clothes were ripped and grime hung from every piece. They covered most of her body and she walked like an old crippled lady whose age, if guessed, would be prehistoric. In the streets, and even the castle itself, most of the servants stayed away from her. It could be because of the stink of the unwashed cloth. But she guessed her appearance helped a lot. Point was that, for somebody like Kya who attracted attention wherever she went, it was difficult to just go wandering around the castle, at least in that getup.

However, albeit grudgingly, Katara had to be thankful for the dirty, smelly clothes. She was well aware of the Fire Lord's need to take to his bed anything that looked remotely feminine or beautiful. So as precaution, she had disguised herself as anything but beautiful. She was a woman, and she wasn't willing to change that, but at least this way she was safe from the lecherous man.

Even then, there was Azula who tormented her if she stumbled by accident into her highness's presence. And Zuko. She could never forget Zuko. He didn't have to treat her like crap to feel like it in his presence. He had changed. He wasn't psychotic like his sister or evil like his father. He was Zuko. Proud, strong, arrogant Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. Heir to the throne and still undermined and hated by his own people. It didn't matter what he did, he wasn't trusted. But, as always, he didn't give up. He tried harder until he achieved his goal. It didn't seem like he cared about his family like years before. When prior to his return to the palace everything had been about regaining his honor, now was to become Fire Lord. What was his motive behind this drive, not even she knew. But it was quite clear that he didn't want Azula to succeed his father.

She had learned that Zuko's position as heir had been planned to be temporary by Azula. She had known that the Avatar was alive almost as soon as they had left Ba Sing Se. It was the reason she claimed that Zuko had given the final blow and killed Aang. The princess had been certain that their group would pop up any day and cause some commotion that would give them away. And they had. But without Aang. Thanks to that, Zuko was still heir. Katara didn't have a clue as for how long. It had taken Azula several years to finally get to the stage where the Prince might have to abdicate the position and pass it onto her. It was all, of course, with her father's help that she was doing it. Ozai didn't want Zuko to rule after him either so, after becoming the Phoenix King, he had also kept his position as Fire Lord and gave his daughter an opportunity to make a comeback. He had enforced a century's old rule for the benefit of Azula. One that said that Zuko needed to have a possible heir born before his 22nd birthday and that was one year from now.

The Prince had tried hard. First, he had talked to Mai but the little bitch refused. The knife thrower was friends with Azula and was probably following her orders so Katara wasn't surprised when she heard the story. Second, he had begun to pile concubines as one would stack boxes. She had heard that at one time, he might have had like fifty. Exaggerations, she guessed. But the fact was, that little Zuzu didn't have the best of lucks. As each woman was said to have conceived, they were dropping like flies. Accident after freak accident took their lives away. Katara wasn't stupid and falling from the balcony or on a knife wasn't what she called coincidence. Somebody was making sure that the prince didn't get an heir and the finger only pointed one way. To Azula.

The situation was dreary as of now. Two weeks ago, one of his remaining concubines had been killed and she had been three months pregnant. At this point, it wasn't simply to replace the dead woman for another one –not that many wanted to go to their death by bearing the prince's child– but the months it would take for the baby to be born. Time was running out, and Katara was sure that Zuko was feeling every minute of it. But knowing him so well, he wasn't about to give up, not without a good fight. That was the reason she was there that night. She had heard that he was going to talk with someone about the situation and she saw it as an opportunity to seen into his way of thinking. It was hard for her to admit that this new Zuko didn't share as much as the previous one did. If she had to guess, he had all his rage bottled up inside waiting to be bent out. Oh, he still had his fiery temper that came out when he least wanted it to, but somehow he thought things through and tried to relax with jasmine tea.

As if on cue, Zuko entered his chambers followed by another set of steps. Katara leaned further into the wall to listen better but even then, all she could hear was the faint sound of whispered voices. She silently thought that it was strange. The other two times she had been in that same spot, he had spoken loud and strong, making sure that even the people on the other side of the thick wall could hear him. Now she was beginning to wonder if it had been on purpose, but if so, that meant he had wanted to divert the attention of whoever might have been listening to other matters. Had she been fooled before and now she was noticing? She didn't think so. It was clear to her that the important people always thought themselves save in their own houses never suspecting his own servants of treachery until one was caught red handed or someone else might point it out to them. It wasn't that they were stupid, more like overconfident. Zuko didn't strike her the kind of person who would make that mistake which made her seriously wonder if he had used the spies within his walls to spread some convenient information that would tip the balance to his favor. Katara was certain that the prince wasn't above such tactics. Actually, it suited him a lot. But it angered her to be used as a gossip spreader when she was vying for the facts not his lies.

Getting too angry with her own line of thought, she punched the wall without thinking. She had wasted a night to only hear his murmurs. That was not information. That was totally futile. She had been used and she was fine with it. Now she needed to find a way to listen to his real conversations, the ones that really mattered to him, not the ones that were ok for an outsider to listen to. Also wanting to kick the frigging wall, she contained. It wasn't good if she was found.

"Did you hear that?" It was Zuko's voice. He couldn't have heard that little punch, could he?

"Heard what?" The other person asked. Katara felt like she knew the voice from somewhere but couldn't place it.

"A noise," the fire prince carefully moved in his office. If he had heard something it was because someone was there. However, it was hard to say where. The noise had sounded hollow and maybe even echoed before he noticed it so it was difficult to say from where it came from. Moving carefully around his office, he tried to think of places where someone might be listening in. He was finding that hard to figure out, since he tended to check his office before sitting down to discuss important matters. In this case, he wasn't willing to risk failure so early on. It was important for his plan to succeed this time around before it was too late for him to gain the throne. Permanently.

Katara hadn't expected to be heard so, not wanting to risk it, she silently walked in the darkness toward an exit. Listening in and not hearing anything, she pushed a button and a door opened to let her out. Taking a deep breath after coming out from the claustrophobic tunnel, she was surprised to find a guard posted right next to the secret door looking at her with wide eyes.

The shout of the alarm sounded seconds after she ran and lost herself in one of the many halls of the Fire palace. She was lucky to have been in the Prince's section. She knew he would keep the scandal to the minimum but she just had jeopardized her safety and her mission. That was not mentioning she had lost her only advantage over the Royal Family. The only option was to stay, continue to be Kya and gather information the hard way. Besides, the gossip mill that was the palace servants dropped good hints and half truth once in awhile. Some of them were worthy of notice.

Followed by his guards, Zuko marched to the kitchen and announced a revision of the personnel identities and belongings. He wasn't about to let anyone listen in his conversations and spread the word so easily so he had taken precautionary measures to keep the spy immobile for a while. It was obvious that he had to be present during the whole process and next to him, the guard who had sighted the outsider. By the description, they should be concentrating in the female population but he also checked males to keep the rumors neutralize. Another clue was the ocean blue eyes of the assailant as described by the guard.

He knew that women from every nation worked in the kitchens, so blue and green eyes weren't that unusual. However, his guard didn't seem to make up his mind and tell him which of the wenches was to blame for that morning's incident. Hours later, they hadn't found the culprit and Zuko wondered if he should be trusting his guard's judgment so easily.

"Have you found her yet?" He asked for the third time in that hour. It wasn't much but his patience sure was suffering it.

"No," answered the guard. "It's just those eyes. They were raging, so angry and hateful, so alive that for a moment I was lost in them," shaking his head in denial, he waved his hand around pointing to all the girls. "Any of them could be her if it wasn't for the eyes."

"Yes, of course, the eyes," repeated Zuko a little too tired after listening to the same thing for the fifth hour.

"We are almost done here, sir," reported another soldier.

"Who is missing?" He demanded.

"An old lady in charge of cleaning the kitchen and taking out the garbage. The servants say she's so old that it's a miracle that she can keep up with the demand," said the man.

"What color are her eyes?" Zuko asked.

"Her eyes?" The soldier wondered.

"Yes."

"I wouldn't know," was the hesitant answer.

"Then find out," barked the prince reaching the last of his patience. He had wasted a whole day and had had no luck finding the culprit. He needed to find her. If the spy had heard something and the information made it to Azula he was positively screw. Until then, he had managed to somehow keep it secret but it seemed luck had never been on his side from the day he was born. As his father had told him once, Azula had been born lucky and he was lucky to be born.

Zuko was shaken out of his pessimistic musings when two guards brought to his presence an old lady. The woman seemed almost crippled with age and could barely walk but she seemed a feisty wrinkled thing. He was certainly amused as she berated the soldiers for treating her like she was sack of potatoes. She was a lady, she said, and should be treated as such. It was entertaining to say the least until he saw her eyes. They were the blues he had even seen, like the deepest parts of the ocean he had once traveled in search of the avatar. They were vibrant and full of life, passionate in their crystallized beauty. There was hate, he noticed, anger, loathing and a tad of worry. The soldier had been right. Those eyes were hard to forget for their intensity.

"Follow me," he ordered the guards. The men looked at each other in wonder and did as they were ordered bringing the screeching old hag with them.

The prince's steps were determined as he headed for his private office thinking of what to do with the spy. He was certain that the old lady was the so despised informant. Nobody of the woman's age could have eyes so lively after years of suffering. And Zuko was sure that with the war, she must have suffered. Her attired said a lot of her suffering because he couldn't fathom anyone being happy when there was no food to eat, no place to sleep and nowhere to bath.

After walking through several halls, they came to stop in front of a door. Zuko opened it in a hurry and signaled for the guards to come in. Sitting right away in the corner of his desk, he looked again at the woman, or more like the black mass of dirty clothes. He studied her for some second before waving his guards away. They hesitated before obeying.

"Who are you?" He asked the woman out of the blue. Her voice croaked a reply that he didn't quite get but it didn't deter him in the least. "Why were you spying on me?"

"I don't know what you speak of, Prince." Her voice came out loud and clear, but there was something in her voice that alerted him to be wary. If the woman was truly the spy he was looking for, then he might probably be in danger.

"I'm sure you know." She didn't react to his accusation. In fact she was rather calm and collected. She wasn't acting like an old lady at all. She wasn't acting like a servant or even a member of the Fire Nation. People feared him and his family. When you were called by one of them, most people would be shaking and unable to speak from the fear. But this woman was looking him right in the eye. No fear etched in her face and no signs of backing out from the challenge she ensued.

Zuko stood up and walked toward a shelf full of documents to the left of his desk waiting for her to say something. However, silent accompanied him as he stopped and stretched a hand to pick a document up. Twirling around fast, he released a fire ball at the woman who moved out of the way in time to avoid being burned. Her eyes were wide for a second before narrowing in realization of what the prince had made her do. Standing straight in a defense stance that he knew too well, he also prepared himself for the coming duel.

Jumping out of the way as a water whip appeared out of thin air and headed for his torso, Zuko sent a pair of fire bullets toward his assailant. His attacker's clothes caught fire; however, the woman didn't seem to notice. Seconds later, the fire extinguished itself, making him think that maybe, the bulgy clothes were more than they seemed. They were big on the woman and several things could be hidden underneath it like a water pouch, or even a weapon. It was obvious that he had to do something about it, and he accidentally did when the woman came too close to him and he pulled some of the cloth off. Smooth brown skin was exposed and his eyes diverted toward it momentarily. She was young. Way younger than what she wanted to appear. Maybe, if he played his cards right, he could make some used of the woman.

More blows were exchanged between both of them, but it was obvious that, even if there was water vapor in the atmosphere, there was a limited amount at her disposal in his office. Besides, it was still day time and night was a couple of hours away. He had plenty of time to subdue the water bender. Determined to hold out for the rest of the afternoon if possible, he let out a stream of fire the knocked the woman into the wall with enough force to put her to sleep.

Her head was pounding when she came to herself. As she slowly opened her eyes, she noticed the restrains placed in her body. Her wrists were tied behind the back of the chair she was sitting on. Her stinky clothes were gone and only her undergarments were left. She was still in Zuko's office and he was looking at her very attentively, almost as if expecting her to jump out of the chair and attack him. Katara had to admit that it wasn't such a bad idea but freeing herself from the binds would take her some long minutes. That was if nobody stopped from doing it. Besides, it seemed stupid to try act unconscious when her captor knew she was awake. She had a better chance of distracting him with conversation than anything else.

"Who are you working for?" Zuko didn't want to waste anymore time. There was something familiar about this young woman, and that something was telling him to be careful of her bending when the moon was high in the sky. There was a possibility that this girl was just some unknown water bender from one of the poles, but there was something about her eyes, her skin and the way she carried herself that made him wonder if he had seen her before. However, it was almost impossible for him to remember some unknown water bender that had gotten in his way once. Still, there was one that had done it constantly. Katara, companion of the Avatar, fought against him several times. Although he really didn't think that she would venture into unknown land alone, she was a beautiful stubborn thing. If she thought that she should try to kill his family by herself, then she would simply do it.

Inspecting the young woman closer, he began to notice more similarities between that teen Katara and this female. Still, he didn't really want to jump to conclusions. Yet, how was he to get any information if he didn't prove a bit?

"Where are your companions?" The question was different and it got her attention. Had he figured her out? "Is the Avatar still alive?" As before, she didn't answer. But, then again, she didn't have to when her eyes just narrowed and the loath in them almost made him shiver. "I see."

'At least she wasn't helping Azula,' the prince thought. 'Azula,' he repeated in his mind before an idea came to mind. 'Maybe she could help.' Once more, his amber eyes were focused on her as if evaluating the scheme before implementing it. "I have a proposition for you."

Katara looked at him cautiously. He was a citizen of the Fire Nation as he had proven before, what made him think that she would help him? However, he could have her in his private prison and torture the information out of her as he pleased and he wasn't doing that. Maybe she should listen to him and, maybe, even help him until she had a chance to extract her revenge and/or escape. She gave a soft nod but she was still wary of him. Seizing this chance, he immediately exposed him plan.

"You see, Katara..."

"Kya," she corrected him.

"Right, Kya. Either way, as you may have heard, one of my concubines was killed some days ago," he stopped a minute to think what else he could reveal without exposing something of which he would later repent. "Since you were spying on me, I'm going to guess you're aware of the why and who. The problem is that she wasn't the only want who got pregnant at the time. There was another one who I've managed to keep hidden until now. I just don't know how long I might be able to keep it that way. So, this is where you come in," once again he paused to gauge her reaction. Nothing was revealed in her face. "If you act as my new concubine and we say that you are 'pregnant' sometime afterwards, the attacks will be centered on you sparing my concubine the stress and keeping her safe until she is ready to deliver. You can defend yourself well enough so you might manage to stay alive until I have my heir. Once that has been achieved, you'll be free to go."

"How do I know you'll keep your word?" She asked after a few minutes of contemplation.

"You don't," he told her. "You'll have to trust me. Besides, I think this option is better than spending some time in prison and I can assure you, it's not a nice place to be at for someone like you," he didn't elaborate any further and that statement could be interpreted in several different ways. But bottom line was that he was right.

"Why do you want to be Fire Lord so badly?" She just had to ask. She had been wondering that for some time now and hadn't been able to come up with a viable answer.

"I don't think it concerns you." Zuko hadn't expected to be asked that and preferred to keep the answer to himself. Besides, he really didn't think that she would believe him if he told her that he had noticed how truly screw his family was and that he was trying to somehow fix it if he made it to the throne. He wasn't sure he had in him to kill his father, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Especially when the Avatar was no more.

"Fine. Then what I'm supposed to do as your 'concubine'?" She had a feeling she wasn't going to like it.

"Since you'll be new, you'll sleep with me for at least a whole month," he stated.

"What?" The scream resonated in his office as a blush tried to make its way into her face.

"Calm down, we'll just sleep in the same bed. Nothing will happen. We'll just make it seem like it did," he decided to placate her. He knew of her temperament, it would be better for him if she was at least reasonable with the whole set up. "Also, I want you to wear makeup and anything else that'll help disguise you from my sister. Azula has seen you before and she might recognize you, and we really, really should avoid that."

"Anything else?"

"You might have to participate in some functions so I would prefer if you were polite," he added as an afterthought. It wasn't that important but it might come to serve its purpose eventually.

Katara was silent for a moment contemplating her option. Concubine or Prison. Concubine and a chance to eliminate the royal family or prison and being abused by Fire Nation bullies. There was no much to think about really. Besides, it might even help her in the long run. She knew Zuko wasn't the most brilliant coin in the purse but, in the purse known as the Fire Nation, he was certainly one of the most valuable. And she preferred Zuko to Azula any day of the week.

Coming to a decision, she nodded once again. "I accept your proposition, Prince Zuko."

A/N

Finally, the first chapter is out and about. I have done some changes, mainly the title and summary. Also the story line but since I hadn't written anything yet, I didn't have to rewrite much. Well, I can assure you that this wasn't the first plot line I had thought up but I like it a lot more than the previous one.

Seleni Argyrios