Chapter Ten Forget the Man’s Voice

The day after the princess had vanished before his eyes in a sort of dazzling whirl that had still made him doubt his sanity; Prince Zuko paid another visit to Aunt Wu. When he entered the small fortune house he came upon a charming picture. Princess Katara herself was seated besides the ageing fortune teller, who was reading the life lines on the water bender’s small hand. The pink and caramel had returned to the young maidens cheeks. The dark shadows around her sapphire eyes had completely disappeared. The banished prince no longer recognized the tragic face from the evening before. It was like the mask of melancholy had never appeared over those lovely features as the trace of the weird story in whose toils that mysterious  maiden was struggling, he could have believed that the princess was not it’s heroine at all.

She rose to her feet, showing no emotion, and offered him her hand that Aunt Wu was previously studying. The price stared at her completely dumbfounded, with out saying a single word or moving a singe muscle.

“Well young Princeling,” the fortune teller started, “It seems that I have found your missing water bender.”

“Aunt Wu!” the water maiden broke in promptly, while a deep crimson blush mantled to her eyes “I thought that we spoke about your teasing.” Her azure eyes shot a most unladylike glare to the old woman.

“But child…” the palm reader tried to calm the young bender.

“Don’t but child me, Aunt Wu You know that will not work on me. Don’t force me to repeat myself on this matter again.” The water princess’s eyes seamed to be lit with blue fire as she snapped at the aging fortune teller. The maiden turned her heated gaze to the banished prince. “And you, don’t you allow her to use her teasing manner to get her way!” a caramel finger scolded the scared fire bender. “Once she finds out that she can manipulate you with her teasing she will not let up. Do I make myself clear?”   

“Crystal.” The banished prince mumbled, keeping his rising temper in check.

The elderly fortune teller could feel the growing tension in the small pallor and could not help but sigh at how clueless these two lost souls were. Here was a young maiden trying to protect the person she loved from two different dangers little did she know that one of them was the very person she is trying to protect. Then there was the banished prince leading a double life trying to win the affections of the maiden and doesn’t resize that she has all but sold her soul to insure that he is not discovered. ‘Why are the young so hopeless?’ Madam Wu bit back a sigh as she stood in front of the two young nobles. “I can see that you two need some privacy, I’ll make my leave.” The elderly fortune teller gave a shallow bow and exited out of the pallor muttering a warning to the fair waterbender “Don’t forget your promise young one.”  

“What does she mean by promise?” the scared prince gave a chance glimpse to her water maiden.

“It will have no interest to you, your highness….” her voice was like the ice she bends.
“On the contrary, Princess,” said the young tea server, in an equally frosty voice. “Anything that concerns your welfare and that of whom you consort with interests me to an extent which perhaps maybe one day you will hope to understand. I will not deny that my surprise equals my pleasure to see you here with your fortune teller and that, after what I was able to figure out, I  hardly expected to see you again so soon after what had happened between you and I yesterday.  I should be delighted in your return, if you were not so bent up in your little secrets and pathetic little mind games that may be fatal to you and…” the banished prince felt a slap to his marred cheek, stopping him in mid sentence.

“How dare you?!”  The waterbender’s crystal eyes blazed. “You have no right.” Her voice began to tremble and tear streamed down her caramel skin. “You have no right, no right…” she repeated over and over again with each time becoming more and more quiet.

“Katara…” the scarred tea server attempted to wrap the fragile form of the master waterbender in his warm embrace, only to have her push him away.
“Don’t.” she whispered.
“Why?” he made no attempt to hide the hurt in his voice.
“I can’t tell you.” She whispered.
The banished prince gently lifted the water maiden’s chin up so he could gaze into her eyes. “Then tell me that you will never disappear again.  It is the only thing that can reassure me. I will undertake not to ask you a single question about the past, if you promise me to remain under my protection in future….”

“That is an undertaking which I have not asked of you and a promise I down right refuse to ever make to you!” she slapped his hand away from her face. “I am in control of my own actions, oh mighty Prince Zuko: you have absolutely no right to try and control them; and I will beg you to cease and desist from this point on. As for what promise I have given, it is mine to give to whomever I chose. Only one man in the world has the right to demand any account for me and that will be my husband! Well, since I have no husband and I plan to never marry!”

She lifted her head so her eyes would meet his for emphasize her words and the scared prince turned pale, not only because of the sudden changes in the waterbender’s moods, but because he had caught sight of a deep green ribbon chocker in place of  her mother’s necklace.:

“You plan to never marry, yet you wear a betrovel necklace from some one in the Earth Kingdom.” His voice was dark and menacing. He tried to seize her chin again, but she swiftly dodged his grasp.
“That was a present.” She said, blushing and vainly striving to hide her embarrassment.

“Katara, as you have no husband, that necklace can only have been given by one who hopes to make you his wife. Why try to play me as a fool any further? Do you enjoy torturing me, peasant? That necklace is a promise; and that promise has been accepted. You think I am a simpleton like you brother? That I can not put two and two together? Do you peasant?” he gritted his teeth and the small pallor became warmer.

The water princess lowered her head to hide her face. “Don’t, don’t you think that this cross-examination has lasted long enough?” she shook as she turned her back to him.

“Forget it… You damn know why I meddle in your affairs, if you chose to believe me or not frankly I could careless anymore. It is obvious that you do not wish to be in my company, I’ll take my leave. But let me tell you this, what I saw and heard and seen last night, trust me I have seen far more then you suspect, you ungrateful peasant. I saw you in pure ecstasy at the sound of a voice. I heard the voice that came from the wall of your villa. And the shear joy your face showed when hearing the voice, girl you’re playing an awfully dangerous game, and yet it seems that you are fully aware of clear warnings.” He clenched his fist.  “It is a very dangerous voice; I’ve heard it and it fascinated me so much that I let you vanish before my eyes with out seeing which way you had passed…. Why did you pity me last night when it is clear as crystal that you do not have one bit of love in your frozen heart for me?” with that he turned to walk out of the pallor door and out of the waterbender’s life for good.

“Zuko!” she called as she embraced his back. “Please… please… I…I…” her hot tears seeped through the layers of his robes. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.” She whispered. “Please hate me all you want, but please forgot you ever heard the man’s voice.”
“Is the mystery of the man’s voice such a terrible thing?” he paused.
“The worst type of secret in this spirit forsaken city.” she rested her head on his toned chest, listening to his soft heart beat.
“Will you send for me from time to time?” he gazed into her eyes as he lowered his head to her’s.
“I promise.” her eyes fluttered shut as his lips met hers.