"Girl Problems 2: The Return of Girl Problems" Chapter 8 (Draft)
Another rough/back-up -- this time on one of my fav stories (to write) : GP2! XD (Man, I've felt so bad since I lost my mojo to write this one. Luckily, I got a bit of a groove back today. Yay! I just want to finish this one... but I've put so much work into it, I refuse to post a piece of crap. Below is the rough draft to the first part of the chapter. More coming later...)
"Girl Problems 2: The Return of Girl Problems"
CH.08
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AT CAMP IWANNABEABENDA
"Zuko, Haru, you're back! And you have Katara--whoa, what happened to your hair, Haru?" exclaimed Aang, rushing up to the pair as they arrived at the GAang's warm hut.
Haru was quiet and waited at the doorway while the prince ignored the question and proceeded across the threshold, Katara curled limply against his exposed chest. She was draped in red -- the remains of Zuko's tunic.
"She needs rest, and to keep warm," said Zuko as he carried the water bender inside. Toph bended Katara's cot across the floor, closer to the fire in the middle, and Zuko laid her down carefully on its edge. "Can you get her changed into dry clothes?" he asked the earth bender.
"I think can figure it out," replied the youngest one in the group confidently and with only a hint of sarcasm.
Katara moaned a bit in her sleep as Toph shifted her slender frame and the males left the hut as one to give them privacy. The rain beat a constant tattoo on the roof and walls, and night had descended in full. Animal sounds, normally so prevalent at dusk and through the night, were muted or silent with the muffling rainfall in the forest.
xXx
"So, did you have an accident while you were out looking for Katara?" asked Sokka curiously a bit later as he looked at Haru's near-brush cut. They settled in Zuko and Iroh's hut, and the retired general soon served everyone tea around their own fire.
Zuko focused on inhaling the scent of the tea he held, and pretended to ignore the uneasy glance Haru sent him.
"Yeah, an accident... Well, it's kind of late, and I should be heading back to turn in for the night," said the earth bender, starting to stand before he'd even received his cup of tea from Iroh.
"Wait, you aren't going to fill us in on how you met up with Zuko, or who found Katara?" Aang looked between the two soggy young men.
"I think they both need to dry off and get to bed, Aang," Iroh answered for him, giving Haru and Zuko a chance to evade further questions. "Haru, why don't you head back to your home for the night; Aang, Sokka, you're welcome to stay here while Toph looks after Katara."
"Another time maybe," said Aang, "but we should probably head back now that the girls are changed. Thanks for the tea!"
"It has been a long day," added Haru, inching back a step.
"We'll see you in the morning," smiled the old gentleman as his hut in turn emptied of non-fire benders. He gave a final wave and smile to Aang as he entered the hut where Katara and Toph were settled in for the night.
Turning his attention to his nephew, he eyed the young man thoughtfully and held his council. Whatever had happened seemed to have been between the two teenaged males, and hadn't involved Katara directly as far as he could tell. Apart from being a bit pale, she'd seemed fine, wrapped tightly in Zuko's shirt.
The bruise on Zuko's face was light, but the perceptive man had noticed it. Meanwhile, everyone had been so shocked at Haru's hair they'd missed the bruises and scratches on the earth bender's arms and face -- or considered them part and parcel of his search.
But if anyone had paid close attention to each of the young men's hands, they would have seen how damaged they were, cut and scratched and swollen.
Pouring himself another cup of tea, Iroh closed his eyes and sat across from Zuko at the edge of the flames' glow, while outside the heavens opened over the forest once more, occasionally decorated with the eruption of thunder or lightning.
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ABOARD THE D.C.T.
Admiral Bo stood across from Princess Azula on the bridge, looking out over the stormy sea; lightning thunderbolted across the sky intermittently, and the water itself was rough enough to toss even the Debilitating Crimson Tide, the princess's flagship, from side to side as if it were a bathtoy.
"Your Highness," he stated, saluting respectfully. Though tired, he'd made it to the meeting within a few minutes of her summons.
The Princess sat lazily in her raised, throne-like seat behind the captain's chair, looking down on her subject. "I really must thank you for joining me on this mission, Admiral Bo -- so many opportunities have simply blossomed in front of me since we all came aboard; Pho's demise, your dismissal, ultimately the disbanding of the once-formidable 'A-Team' -- I'm almost sad to see you all go..." The gold of her eyes shone with a vengeful lustre. "So all that's left to decide is how to dot the 'i's and cross the 't's of your dishonourable discharge."
A skeleton crew manned the bridge that night, and all focused quietly on their own responsibilities while the princess warmed up to the subject. None wanted to intrude and risk enticing the wrath befalling their superior. None wanted their superior on the receiving end of such wrath, either, however.
Unashamed, though, the handsome man looked up at her lovely face and didn't let a single word compromise his composure.
"So, since we're both familiar with the laws of Agni Kai, do you have any requests?" she asked lightly, studying her fingernails.
Admiral Bo felt his heart shudder and ratchet up several notches as he regarded her evenly. Now was the time. "Yes. I request the match to be held in 2 days, on Earth Kingdom soil."
"What?" she snapped, and her hands shot down to grip the arms of her imposing seat. Every movement belied her seething anger; her curled fingers and nails, her taught shoulders, and her thrumming chi all blared like sirens to alert those nearby to her agitated state. "This is a Fire Nation affair; you know Agni Kai cannot be performed outside the Fire Nation. It can be held only on this ship!"
"Your Highness, with all due respect... I can wait until we return to the Fire Nation and we can have the Agni Kai in front of the Court if it pleases you; however the two of us having such a battle on the ship would endanger the crew, and we are already on our way into battle. There is no sense... giving the crew something to divide their attention. They have already shown some hesitation and voiced some concern at having one of their plans change at the loss of one of their leaders."
It was a gamble, and a huge one; but Mei had assured Bo that Azula wouldn't let the matter drag on them all the way back to the Fire Nation, she'd want it settled immediately. Also, there was a chance that a supporter in the Court, perhaps even her Father, the Fire Lord, who'd ordered the A-Team's commission for the mission, would dismiss the charges and thus undermine her authority. The A-Team would become even more popular; but worse, she'd be publically humiliated.
Azula's eyes narrowed and her mouth tightened as she considered her options.
(still working on this chap...)