AN: Believe it or not, this one was actually written in my head for a long time. When I first got the prompt my mind immediately jumped to Blutara or something with the Blue Spirit and the Painted Lady and blah blah. But if you've read my Zutara Week stuff (I don't really recommend it) then you'll know that my muse is stubborn when it comes to said spirits. Usually it never wants to let me write a fic with them in it if the prompt is too obvious.

This time was no different. But after sulking for about an hour my muse gave me an actual idea for this fic. So I was happy, because it was basically written. In fact, after 'Games' this one was probably the first prompt that had direction. So what took me so long, you may ask. Well, firstly real life came around and kicked me in the behind. Then I started work. And then I read the spoilers to 'The Promise' and… I dunno. Maybe I've just been reading and writing too many fanfics of how things would go post-series. The comic left me rather… disappointed. And not only because of pairings.

(I know for a certain fact that Bryke spelt it 'Firelord' in the original series. Go look at the episode name and the credits and the back of the DVD box and the Internet etc. It's 'Firelord'. I nearly cried when I found out two years ago because I had to go and change all of my fics and re-upload them with the correct spelling. And now? In the comic it's spelt 'Fire Lord'. I want to headdesk myself into oblivion. Forget that:: I'm keeping with the original spelling!)

But anyway. That's a rant for another day. What I'm trying to explain is that the spoilers kinda made my fic AU. But in the end I decided I didn't really care and I typed it out anyway. Which brings us to the present. Last prompt, guys. I'd love to be able to tell you I'll never hurt Zuko again in my writing but… I guess we'll have to see. Hehehehe. Thanks a huge, huge, huge bunch to everybody who stuck with this thing. Thanks to Deffie for the prompts. And thanks to every reader, whether you liked it or not. =] See you guys around.

Warning: Probably AU (if you're following 'The Promise' etc) and with undertones of Zutara. (No matter how blatant they make it that it will never happen my heart cannot change.)

Disclaimer: Avatar The Last Airbender/Legend of Aang is not mine. Nor are any of its characters. Nor is a plane ticket to America so I can actually buy the comic.

Myth

If he had to be completely honest with himself, Zuko would admit he didn't always take his uncle's advice to heart. There were, however, some titbits of wisdom from the old general that he'd soaked in as soon as they'd been gifted to him, storing them away in the recesses of his mind for the rest of his days. One such flower of wisdom was this: always figure out the plans and motives of your enemies. With their motives come their weaknesses and weaknesses are what defeats a man.

The way things were right then, however, made it seem that even Uncle Iroh's best advice was sometimes wrong. Zuko knew the plan and he knew most of the motive. But he was nowhere closer to escaping than he had been when he'd first been forcefully chained to the wall of his own vacation home.

"I know you know where he is."

Hatred filled the mismatched golden eyes as they glared at the leader of his captors. In response to the man's probing, Zuko spat some of the blood out of his mouth and at the man's feet. His captor snarled slightly but made a conscious and obvious effort not to step back. Zuko smirked at the man's disgust, the expression mutilated by his split and bleeding lip.

"Firelord Zuko. Our fight is not with you. We do not wish to harm you. We only - "

Zuko snorted, ignoring how painful the gesture was. "Right. And you did such a great job of not harming me."

The man's body stiffened even more and his previously cajoling tone became sharp. "Tell us where he is and we will not have to lay another finger on you."

"I cannot do that," Zuko snapped right back, turning his glare onto the five other men that stood, still as statues, in the room. The Firebender glared especially viciously at the Earthbender that had moulded him to the wall in the first place.

The leader leant in closer, his golden eyes gleaming through the holes in his mask. "I am not going to ask nicely again, Firelord. Tell me where the Airbender is."

Zuko's nostril's flared as his temper spiked again. Most of the fourty-odd members that belonged to the group currently holding him were from the Fire Nation. This betrayal – having to stare into the eyes of his own people and know they would risk everything for murder – made the situation much worse. Anger boiling in his blood, Zuko's words formed themselves without much conscious thought.

"Right now he's probably on his way back here." The Firelord hoped Momo had gone straight to his friend and had somehow alerted Aang. Katara insisted that the lemur was smart but… Unfortunately, he was their only hope. "And I'm sure he's got reinforcements. Have you ever seen the Avatar angry, General? Have you ever truly witnessed his power? Don't worry if you haven't, because you will when he returns. The offspring of the men who made sure every one of his kind were wiped out… The offspring who want to continue to make sure the Air Nomads remain extinct… Do you have any idea what he will do to you?"

Zuko knew he was half-bluffing: Aang's anger and Avatar State never lasted and the young Airbender's personality made it impossible for him to truly hurt somebody. But these men did not know that, and he was bargaining that they had heard enough stories to believe his embellishments. The sudden nervous shifting that went about the room proved to him that they did believe it. He worked to hide a smirk. The leader huffed and drew himself up taller, suddenly reminding Zuko of why he'd made it to an general in Ozai's army.

"Our ancestors had the correct idea," he told his Firelord through clenched teeth. "The Airbenders and their kind were a disgusting brood of heathens who undermined all the spirituality of the great Fire Nation. They claimed to be better than us – purer than us. They deserved to be wiped off the face of the earth – them and their customs and their unholy bending! So our forefathers convinced Sozin that to destroy the Avatar he had to destroy every one of those creatures."

Zuko interrupted him before he could go any further, working a sneer onto his face as he taunted, "Tell Aang that when he returns. Let him hear that. I'm sure he'll love it."

Another shift ran around the room like a ripple in a lake, but this time their leader held firm. "He is no Firebender – he knows not how to truly harness the life of the sun because it is not something you can be taught. This lack of utter consumption by our element will make him weaker against us. And it is new moon today: no Waterbending at all."

Renewed courage seeped back into the atmosphere of the room, and Zuko became desperate. He had to wear them down mentally as much as possible to give Aang some advantage. "He still has another two elements! You have two Earthbenders here and neither of them is as skilled as he is! And then there is his native element, the one you deem so unholy and unnatural that you are willing to slaughter to be rid of it." The hatred and disgust seeped out of the chained Firebender's soul and into his words as they were hurled at his captors.

Zuko realized his mistake of returning the topic to Airbending almost at once. The distraction of Aang and his power melted away, and they were all suddenly right back where they started. Their leader bent down before Zuko so the Firelord was staring directly at the concealing mask. He gave the painted wood a poisonous glare, wondering why the man even bothered with the disguise when Zuko knew exactly who he was. He could never forget the voice of the man who was willing to send numerous Fire Nation boys to die. He could never forget the eyes of the man who was supposed to face him in the Agni Kai.

"Firelord Zuko. Tell us where the Airbender is."

Zuko's chin rose in pure defiance and he glared back without falter. He'd never been afraid to face this man, and he never would be. "He's flying here to deliver your doom."

The old general's foot connected with his torso with surprising strength, taking Zuko off guard enough to draw a gasp from his lips. Somehow, his captor had managed to aim for the same place the others had connected with him before and the blow to the already tender spot was near to agony. Before he could get his breath back two of the previously silent men of the background were upon him at their leader's command. The Firelord tried to remain defiantly upright, but the blows to his bruised ribs had him instinctively curling inwards. One man deftly struck him across the face and he tasted fresh blood. The kick following the strike to his face caused a sickening snap to vibrate through the air. It took every inch of Zuko's willpower not to make a sound.

"Enough." Obediently the two masked sidekicks returned to their line of equally silent peers. Zuko continued to stare at the ground, struggling to breathe when every slight inhale was torture. The leader stepped closer and the Firelord forced his face upward so he could glare into his eyes like a man. The movement of trying to sit up nearly stole what little breath he had left. The old general chuckled darkly. "That was completely unnecessary, Firelord. And if you cooperate it does not have to happen again. Now-"

Zuko spat a mixture of blood and saliva onto the spot where the mask left the man's cheek free. A noise of disgust pulled itself from the man's throat as he hastily scrubbed the gunk away from him. Zuko wanted to laugh but didn't have the air. With furious steps his captor strode forward and grabbed a fistful of Zuko's hair, using it to yank the Firelord's head up. This time, the younger Firebender was unable to keep the grimace off his face.

"We," the leader thundered, "are here to continue with our ancestors' noble quest. The Airbenders must be purged from the land! We allowed the Avatar to go free because he was needed for the world. But we shall not sit idly by and watch another of that race inhale our air! My patience has worn thin, Firelord Zuko! Where is the new Airbending child?"

Zuko's face twisted into more hate. "I cannot tell you."

The grip on his hair intensified. "The-"

"I cannot tell you because he does not exist!" Zuko exploded. "Avatar Aang is the last Airbender – your Agni-accursed families saw to that! You have come here and risked everything for a mere myth. A myth, General. "

"That is not true!" Zuko could hear the note of panic in the man's voice, and he relished in it.

"Avatar Aang has two children, and neither of them bend air. Whatever your spies have told you has been nothing but a list of wishes turned into lies."

Even as the general snarled and proceeded to rip the hair right off Zuko's head in his rage there was a shout of alarm from downstairs. Not a moment later, a chirping form settled itself on the window and fixed the room's occupants with the closest thing to a glare a Flying Lemur can muster. Zuko had never been more relieved to see the animal in his entire life.

"The only Airbender in this world," Zuko continued in triumph, "is the one who is currently downstairs taking care of the rest of your men."

Cursing, his captor released his hair and the momentum slammed his head against the wall he was chained to. Through the sudden haze in his mind, Zuko heard the leader barking out orders before rushing from the room. Finally at peace, the Firelord allowed himself to sag against the wall, groaning as his body protested to every movement and breath. Momo chirped once more and then disappeared to presumably go and help his Airbending friend. A moment later, the sounds of a fully-fledged battle began. Zuko's attempts to free himself were beyond unsuccessful and frustrating and he finally had to resign himself to just waiting this battle out.

Almost as soon as he'd made this decision the sound of a door opening broke the silence of his room. Immediately he was on the alert, eyes snapping to the door of the room. The door, however, remained closed. Realization struck a moment later and his gaze instead flew to the wall. Sure enough, the secret doorway set in the wall was slowly sliding open.

"They could come back at any moment!" Zuko hissed at once. "Get back in there, fool!"

"Cut it out with the insults, already!" Katara's voice hissed back from the slowly widening opening. "We're not teenagers anymore! All I want to do is get you in here with me so-" The Waterbender's lithe body appeared as she spoke, but her words cut off as soon as she caught sight of him. Blue eyes widened at once and a gasp tore itself from her throat. "Oh, Zuko!"

With difficulty he managed to roll his eyes at her. "I did not spend an hour being degraded by that scum only to have you practically hand yourself over to them. Get back into the secret bunker and wait until Aang is completely done with sending them all of to the Boiling Rock or the Spirit World."

She ignored him, as always, and instead quickly hurried to his side. Her face was anxious and anguished and an uncomfortable feeling seeped up from Zuko's stomach and spread through his body. "Katara-"

"Shh." Almost automatically she reached up and rubbed away some of the blood from his face. And then she seemed to realize what she was doing, and she let go as though his skin had burned her. "Hold still."

From her belt she drew the knife he had thrust into her hands when he'd forced her into hiding when the men had first come. Being a Master Waterbender she had not gone into hiding quietly, but with Sokka, Suki, Aang, Toph and the moon absent she had had no other choice. He suddenly thanked the Spirits that she hadn't decided to leap in and save him somewhere during his friendly little chat with his captors. That would have been just like her. And it would have ended in disaster. After quickly realizing that the knife would not be able to crack open the manacles of rock around his wrists, Katara instead used the weapon to carve at the wood of the walls. Zuko huffed slightly at this blatant destruction of his property, but was too anxious to get her out of sight and too sore to pick a fight about it.

Finally the board he had been bound to cracked away from the rest of the wall and he was able to at least lower his arms while Katara dug him out the rest of the way. The action of dropping his arms caused an expected twinge in his torso and an unexpected throb in his shoulders. Oh, great. On top of being bruised and broken he was also going to have stiff muscles. Wonderful. Sulking slightly at this information he glowered as Katara worked and made his impatience known with a lot of teeth grinding and glaring that the Waterbender did not appreciate at all.

Katara finished chipping away the wood from his left hand and allowed him all of a second to use his newly freed hands to rub his chafed wrists before she went on the attack. Hands grabbed his face – fingers careful not to touch the space that was, ironically, only hers to touch – and her eyes catalogued the damage with guilty aching. Zuko could not seem to bring himself to ask her to stop or to remove her hand. All he could do was stare at her and both hate and love the emotions that flickered across her face. A noise too close for comfort broke their respective gazes and Katara suddenly leapt to her feet.

"Come on," she urged him, leaning down and grabbing hold of his arm to pull him up.

Bracing himself and pleading silently that he would not fall over or cry out, Zuko allowed her to pull him up. Pain assaulted him from at least three different sides and his knees buckled as soon as he was upright. Automatically her arms reached around him to steady him, her hands gripping and crushing the ribs that had been broken. He nearly passed out on the spot from the pain.

Instantly her grip went higher. "Sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"S'fine," he told her through gritted teeth, legs shaking beneath his usually manageable weight.

"Where can I…?"

Her hands flittered around him in panicked uncertainty. He didn't have the heart to tell her that everywhere hurt. Instead, he guided her grip to a place where the pain would be bearable. He hated the fact that he had to lean on her so heavily as they made their way over to the entrance. At least he was able to keep his face blank of winces and grimaces so that the worry on her face did not deepen. Crawling into the opening and then half-crouching down the low passage was a form of torture Zuko never wanted to endure again. By the time they reached the underground safe room, the Firelord was panting and shaking as though he was half-frozen.

Katara propelled him toward the bed at once and gently lowered him down, pretending to ignore the way his face tightened in pain. Before he could stop her she unbound his tunic and pulled it away from is chest so she could assess the damage. What she found made her heart ache and her stomach disappear.

"Zuko…" She didn't know what else to say. How could she convey all her sorrow and all her guilt and all her selfish gratitude into words?

"Forget it," he told her shortly, pulling the material over his battered torso and leaning back against the cushions with obvious relief.

She watched his laboured breathing for a while before her emotions overflowed into the silence. "I can't even heal you!" she moaned. "I really have no power when there's no moon."

"Katara." His patience was even thinner than usual. "It's fine."

Biting her lip, the healer turned away from him and headed toward the shelving on the furthest wall. Loathing the circumstances that made them necessary she reached for the folded pile of bandages before she gripped the water skin that was always at her hip. Returning to the Firelord she wet one of the strips of linen and then firmly pulled his hands away from his torso. Gold eyes snapped open at once to glare at her, but she matched the glower.

"I need to at least clean you up and bandage you. You're not going to lie there in blood and untreated wounds until the moon returns."

Grudgingly he conceded and Katara washed away his blood with her hands instead of her bending, suddenly wishing she'd never taken her healing ability for granted in the slightest. She tried to work in silence so that Zuko could rest, but too many worries floated around in her mind for her to ignore.

"Do you know if… if Sokka…?"

"I didn't hear from him. I just saw Momo and heard Aang. I'm sure your kids are still with him and Suki on the next island." A fervent prayer wailed in her heart. He seemed to read the tension in her silence, for he suddenly looked at her sternly. "They're fine, Katara. They are the children of you and Aang. And despite Sokka being… well, Sokka, he's proven to be a good parent to your nieces and nephew. Neither he nor Suki will let anything happen to-"

She pressed too hard on his broken side and he broke off to wince. She flinched at his expression. "Sorry." Her lip began to tremble. "I'm so sorry. I should have gone with them. When they all tried so hard to convince me we should all go as a family. But I was just so tired and I thought I could sleep today while they were being entertained and Aang was away at that meeting and…"

"Katara, stop." It was half a demand and half a plea – Zuko did not do well with emotional females. "There was no way you would know what would happen. They planned this well. They chose the one day there was only you and I present and when it was new moon. This isn't your fault."

Her sniffing was interrupted by another person starting to cry. Quickly, with tears still threatening to overflow, she bandaged Zuko's torso. Then she half ran to the makeshift crib tucked into the corner, reaching in and scooping up her baby. Soothingly she murmured nonsense to him until his wails turned to snuffles and then to silence. Suddenly her gaze shifted from the child in her arms to Zuko, who had been watching her.

"Thank you," she whispered, the emotion so raw in her voice and eyes that it took his breath away. "Thank you so, so much. If they'd… If he'd…" She clutched the baby closer to her chest in horror at the mere thought.

Slightly embarrassed, Zuko looked away. "You're… welcome." Rocking her baby, Katara moved back to the bed. Gently she sat on the side not occupied by Zuko and unfurled her arms slightly so the Firelord could gaze upon the young child nestled in them. Looking down at the small, defenceless innocent, Zuko suddenly hated his captors any more. "Did you have to be so vocal about him being an Airbender?" His anger was born of fear of what might have been if they'd found the entrance to Katara's hiding place. "How do you even know this young?"

"Aang says he… felt it. I don't know what that means but… If he says our son is an Airbender, then I believe him. Aang was so overjoyed to have another of his kind in the world that he…" She was suddenly angry. "We shouldn't have to keep it a secret! We should be allowed to rejoice with the rest of the world that our son is the first Airbender to be born in a hundred years! The war is supposed to be over!"

"There will always be another war somewhere, Katara," Zuko answered her quietly. "Peace can only last for so long."

Blue eyes turned sorrowful and desperate at the conviction in his voice that he only had because of years and years of personal suffering. Suffering and strife that had yet to end. Gently she placed her son on the bed beside Zuko and then picked up the cloth and began to bathe his face. He tensed a bit but made no move to stop her.

"Why couldn't you just pretend Tenzin and I were someplace else? You could have led them away and then they wouldn't have… done this to you."

"The place I sent them to would have innocent people there for them to hurt. I will not let anybody else get hurt because of me again, Katara. Especially not my people." Pride for him flowed through her body like liquid fire. The world was lucky to have him. Then his gaze dropped away from hers and his head turned so she was no longer touching him. "And I had to make sure they would not be able to hurt Tenzin."

It was only because she knew him so well – only because he was one of her very best friends in the universe – that she picked up what he really meant. She shut her eyes. "When are you going to stop punishing yourself for your mistakes?" she whispered.

"Never." The answer was immediate and full of conviction. When she opened her eyes again she found them locked with his burning gold ones. "What I did… I need to make sure I atone for it. And that I never do it again."

"You won't-"

"I nearly did, Katara! Again! After everything that happened I nearly… Aang was on the brink of killing me because of who I became again!"

The Waterbender shook her head for the double purpose of negating his words and ridding herself of the memories. "That was then. This is now." He started to answer but she cut across him. "I trust you. I trust you with everything that I am and everything I hold dear." Blue bored into gold. "I trust you with everything."

The unspoken exception to that rule sliced through both of them like a knife. Tenzin chose that moment to whine uncomfortably. Katara reached out for him, but his baby fists curled around Zuko's hand instead. As soon as the Firelord's finger was tightly in his grasp he stopped fussing. Every muscle in Zuko's body tensed at the unsuspected and unfamiliar sensation. And then the surprise melted to an expression Katara could not name and would never be able to forget. Sensing her watching him, Zuko's gaze locked onto hers, his eyes still burning with that unnameable emotion.

And for one shivering second, reality altered. Zuko's face lost its bruising and the room moulded to one from the Fire Nation palace. The pendant around her neck was held there by Fire Nation silk and the baby between her and the Firelord had eyes the same colour as the ones she was starring at.

The shattering of this fantasy was more painful than she'd ever thought possible. Zuko looked away and gently removed his finger from Tenzin's grasp. "Aang should be rushing in to see if you're okay soon." She could not think that she imagined the tinge of jealousy in his voice.

Without replying, Katara suddenly lay down on the bed, curling Tenzin into her arms and trying to ignore how close Zuko was. They stared at each other, lying on different sides of the same bed with a child wedged between them in a way that was so achingly right yet decidedly wrong at the same time. They continued to look at each other, reading stories and unobtainable futures in each other's eyes until a victorious Aang came to reassure himself that his wife and youngest child were alright.

The tale of what happened on Ember Island was purposefully hushed, but variations of it managed to leak out anyway. With the retelling, some details got blurred, deleted or added until the reality of the day was shrouded in embellishments and exaggerations. Some of the retellings insisted that the Avatar had finished his battle only to walk in on his wife sleeping in the arms of the Firelord. These versions of the tale were always cast aside as rot by the general republic: everybody knew the feelings between the Avatar's wife and the Firebender were just a myth.