When Worlds Collide: Book Three, Fire

/////Sam's POV\\\\\

As soon as we passed through the door of the palace, many servants surrounded us. They offered food and drink, which Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai accepted, but I just shook my head.

I slipped away from the commotion, and started to make my way to my room. The teachers had crammed symbols and words into my head all day, and I felt like a nap. Zuko could wait, right?

I clumsily opened the door, and Zuko was suddenly there, leaning against the wall.

"Did you forget something?" he asked, and I jumped.

I sighed, and shook my head. "No," I admitted, and opened the door wider. I stepped in first, with Zuko close behind me. "What did you want to talk about?" I asked, plopping down on the bed.

He shut the door before answering, and when he turned to me, his expression was grave. "Can you keep a secret?" he asked, and I rolled my eyes.

I've been keeping secrets since arrived in this world. "Of course I can."

He glanced nervously back at the door, and in a hushed tone said, "The Avatar's alive."

I rolled my eyes, and rolled on to my stomach, staring at him. "I know. I've been saying this all along." I rested my chin in my hands, and tilted my head. "What made you freak out about this all of a sudden?"

He sighed, and shook his head. He muttered something to himself, but I couldn't understand. "Sam, I need you to tell me where he is."

I narrowed my eyes, looking him up and down. "No."

He glared a little, and sat down at the edge of the bed. "Please, Sam," he tried. "This is important."

"I don't even know where they are," I snapped. "I'm kind of cut off from them, remember?"

"Azula knows about the day of the eclipse," Zuko said softly, and I froze.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, playing dumb. I averted my eyes from him, and picked at a loose thread on the bed quilt.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," he said. I felt the bed shift, and then he was lying next to me, staring up at the ceiling.

"How?" I whispered. "How did she find out?"

"When she was disguised as a Kyoshi Warrior," he stated.

I put my head in my hands, and sighed. "I have to do something. Maybe I can send them a letter or something. I could easily do something like that, right? I could-"

"Sam," Zuko interrupted, and I took in a shaky breath.

"All that preparation," I whispered. "Wasted. We went through so much in Ba Sing Se, all in vain."

He stayed silent, but I felt his eyes on me.

"Can you do me a favor?" I asked, laying my head down, and staring at him.

"As long as you stop ignoring me," he chuckled, and I smiled slightly.

"Distract me. Please." I placed my arm underneath my head, and raised my feet into the air. "Just... help me forget what's happening."

He was quiet for a bit, which made me nervous for some reason. His eyes held a lot a questions, and I could tell that he was holding something back.

"What?" I raised an eyebrow. "Do I have something on my face?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "How was school today?" he asked, smirking.

I glared, and rolled my eyes. "That's what you decide to ask me? You sound like my parents." I sighed, deciding it was a good enough question to take my mind off of the startling revelation. "It was awful. Those stupid teachers think I'm a moron just because I can't read what they put in front of me."

He laughed at me, so hard that he was even clutching his stomach.

"It's not funny!" I snapped, pouting. He ignored me, and kept laughing, so I pushed him off the bed.

By the time he sobered up, I was sprawled across the bed, and refused to move.

He sat on the floor for a bit, still grinning. "If you need a tutor, I could-"

"I don't need a tutor, I need to be taken out of that stupid place," I sighed, before rolling over to let him back up on the bed.

He laid back down, and stared at me with that same look from earlier.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He shook his head, smiling. "I guess I'm just glad you're talking to me again."

I chuckled. "I guess I just needed to talk to someone that I don't completely hate." I playfully punched his arm. "So don't feel special or anything."

Before he could respond, Azula barged through the door. Zuko glared slightly, and stood up off the bed.

"Hello Princess Snot," I growled. "Please, do come in. How am I? Fine, thanks for asking."

"I figured you two would be in the same place," Azula stated, ignoring me. "It's time for training."

I glared at the ceiling. "If I'm going to train, shouldn't it be under someone who knows what they're doing?"

"I do know what I'm doing," she spat.

"Didn't the legend say that I could bend things with my mind or whatever?" I asked, tilting my head. "Last I checked, you can't do that. Unless you're magical, and figured out how to do it in one night."

Azula was silent for a bit, and for a second, I thought I went too far. Was I about to die?

"I'll be in the training room," she stated. "You have two minutes." The door slammed, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "And I live to see another day."

"You're going to get yourself in trouble if you keep acting like this, you know," Zuko told me.

"My plan is that I'll annoy them so much, that they'll have no choice but to beg Aang and the others to take me back," I smirked.

"Azula is more likely to lock you up in prison," he said, and made his way to the door. "I'll see you later."

"Wait a minute," I called, sitting up, and stopping him from walking out the door. "You're going to leave me with that monster?"

He chuckled. "I have prior arangements."

Before I could object, he was out the door.

I pouted, and stood up. Might as well get the torture with Azula over with - assuming I still knew where that stupid training room was.

I tied up my hair into a messy bun, and pulled the door open. Mai walked by, and seemed to ignore me. She would be going to the training room as well, right?

I closed the door as quietly as possible, and after waiting a few seconds, took off to follow the depressing girl.

I tried to be quiet, and made sure to stay a couple yards back. A couple of times, Mai made turns that I didn't recognize, but I didn't question it. She suddenly made a sharp turn down a hallway, so I quickened my pace. When I turned the corner, I faced a long corridor, with no doors, and no one in sight.

Where did she go? How did I miss her? I spun around to retrace my steps, but two dark, dull eyes made me shriek.

"What are you doing?" Mai asked dryly.

"Are you even human?" I asked her, ignoring my question.

She rolled her eyes, but didn't make another movement.

I sighed, and looked at the ground. "I forgot the way to the training room," I admitted. "I figured you were heading that way, so I thought I'd follow."

She was silent for a bit, and then walked pass me. I heard her footsteps stop for a moment, and I turned to see her staring at me. "You could have just asked, you know," she stated, and motioned for me to follow her.

I waited for her to turn around again, before sighing in relief, and following her.

When we entered the room, Azula was flinging fire at a dummy, and Ty Lee was walking on her hands on the sidelines.

When the princess spotted me, she glared, but walked over. "It's about time," she said, taking my hand, and dragging me to the center of the room.

She got into a firebending stance, facing one of the dummys, and I stepped back, not sure of what would come next. With quick, fluent movements, fire shot from her clenched fists, and the dummy was engulfed in flames, its painted on smiling face melting into a creepy frown.

Ty Lee clapped excitedly, and my eyebrows rose in fear. Maybe I should just watch what I say... I could easily become that dummy in a matter of seconds.

"What do I do?" I asked.

"The same thing," she stated, like it was obvious. "With your mind."

"You're kidding," I gawked. Yesterday, we just meditated, did a few stances, and she briefly explained the basics of firebending. Now she wants me to do the impossible?

She raised an eyebrow, and stepped back. The look on her face told me that she was all seriousness. "You already used your power in Ba Sing Se," she reminded. "When you almost burned Zuko. You just have to focus."

"Says the person who doesn't know anything," I muttered under my breath.

But, I closed my eyes, and tried to focus like I did before. I imagined that warm feeling, and it soon overwhelmed me. My head felt like it could burst, but it was quickly replaced by a warm sensation. The world around me dissolved, and there was nothing but me, and the floor beneath my feet. My breathing evened out, and then the heat around me turned into something warm and cozy, like sitting around a fire place around Christmas time.

A weird buzzing noise invaded my ears, and then I was being shaken. My eyes snapped open, the calmness from before now scattered. My eyes darted around like a wild animal, and then I spotted Zuko in front of me, looking worried.

"What happened?" I asked.

I heard coughing, and my head whipped around to see Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai putting out a fire all around the dummy.

"You almost set the whole palace on fire," Azula accused. "You were supposed to set the mannequin on fire, not everything but."

"Sorry," I mumbled, and turned to Zuko, who had a slight smile. "When did you get here?" I asked.

"About fifteen minutes ago," he shrugged.

"Fifteen minutes?" I asked. "How long was I out of it?"

"A while," Azula said, now that the fires were out. "Which means we have a lot of work to do if you're going to help win this war."

I clenched my jaw, but didn't say anything. She knew I wouldn't willingly help them. She's already made many threats, but it would take a lot more for me to even consider it. She was crazy if she thought I would help.

Besides, it wouldn't matter. Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph will have saved me by then. I just have to make it until the eclipse. Even if the Fire Nation knew about it, I could still find ways to mess up their plans of defense. We had a person on the inside.

We would win this war.