57I have forgotten to do this every chapter so yeah...
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar or the Hunger Games.
Chapter 4: Fire
It was a surprise at first, but Zuko soon realized he should've expected this. Soon after last year's reaping Zuko discovered that his father, a multi-millionaire, egomaniac, had been bribing the Peacekeepers to try and get his name chosen. Although the Peacekeepers couldn't do much to effect the choice, they sure tried their darndest, and this year it had finally worked. Sad really, that his father would want to inflict such a horrible punishment upon on him, but Zuko new that his father hated Zuko as much as Zuko hated him, it was a mutual relationship.
Zuko pushed open the mahogany doors of the room he was going to say goodbye to loved ones in. Though he was only half surprised to find just Mai and Ty Lee sitting inside, he'd thought Azula would at least come to rub it in his face that he was going to die. "Oh Zuko, you can't go!" Ty Lee cried out.
She embraced him in a bear hug, squeezing him until he couldn't breathe. He looked down at the pink clad girl he'd come to think of as a sister. Her black mascara and light pink eye shadow trailed down her face mixed in with her tears. Still wrapped in her hug, he looked up at Mai. Her brass eyes shone with tears but he knew they wouldn't fall; Mai was too much of a toughie to cry, even for this. "Hey Strong Boy," Mai said, using her old nickname for him.
He smiled; she'd always called him that back when they had dated. But now she was just his adopted sister and a protective one at that, it was better this way and they both knew it. "You're gonna win this thing okay," she said sternly, although her voice shook slightly.
"Yeah, Zuko you have to win," Ty Lee sobbed. He gave both the girls one last hug before being escorted out of the room by a Peacekeeper. He walked lugubriously within the other 5 Fire Nation tributes. Zuko kept his eyes on the ground, not wanting to see his father out in the crowd of citizens standing by the train station. He heard the hiss of the silver train as it came to a stop, and quickly followed the others inside. Looking around he saw that they had entered a small lounge room, filled with several other people about his age or a little younger; Zuko figured these were the tributes from the Air, Water, and Earth Nations.
The Firebender sat down next to a young boy with blue arrows; he presumed an Airbender. The room was filled with people, and only a select few were actually talking. Zuko slumped back in the couch he was sharing, sighing deeply and closing his eyes. "Hey your Zuko right, Ozai's son," the young Airbender inquired.
Resisting the urge to sigh openly, he opened his eyes and saw the boy staring at him with curiosity. "Yeah I am," Zuko answered. The boy's eyes lit up and a huge grin split his face, it was infectious but Zuko's callous demeanor prevented him from returning the smile. "I'm Aang and this is Toph," the boy introduced the girl sitting in the small single chair next to him.
Zuko glanced cautiously past the boy, looking at the small girl, she had black hair, pale skin, and after she looked up at him he saw that her eyes were a cloudy green. "Is she..?" he spoke nosily.
Toph gave him a wicked smirk. "Yeah I'm blind," she answered casually. Zuko nodded and gave a small 'Oh' in response. "So, Ozai's son, you have my sympathy" Toph said in a joking way.
"Thanks," Zuko responded giving the smallest of smiles. A relaxed silence settled in between the three of them as they listened to the buzz of the room. Zuko watched with his eyes narrowed as one of the doors on the side of the room opened up and Peacekeepers entered. They were followed by four other people dressed in the traditional clothing of each Nation.
"Hello tributes," the man dressed in Water Nation clothes began, "we are here to take you to your selected set of mentors. My name is Kuruk, and I will be taking the Water Nation tributes, respectively.
A middle aged lady in Airbender robes stepped up beside Kuruk. "I'm Yangchen, and I'll be taking the Airbenders."
The last two stepped forward, Roku from the Fire Nation and Kyoshi from the Earth Nation. Swiftly each set of tributes were sent out with their assigned mentors. Toph and Aang waved goodbye as they exited the room, and he was left alone until the Firebenders were called. He trailed at the end of the group, looking around meticulously, taking in every detail of the exquisite train.
They were led through several rooms before stopping in what seemed to be a dining room. The tables were piled with an extremity of foods. Around the table sat many other Fire Nation men and women, the mentors. Zuko and the other tributes took their places at the empty six chairs. Unbeknown he had chosen a seat next to Roku, strangely he felt more at ease near the elder man.
"Hello tributes, as you already know I'm Roku, this is Ella, Lee, Jin, Bayani, and Geming. We are the six mentors from the Fire Nation, and by tomorrow evening each of you will have to choose one of us to work with and help you train for the Games, make sure you have more than one choice, another tributes may pick the first person you were aiming for," Roku explained.
With that dinner began, they all began to eat some of the tributes began to quiz each of the mentors to help decide which on they were going to pick. Zuko refrained from talking; he decided to watch the adults, better to judge on actions not words.
They were taken to their assigned rooms after dinner. Zuko slid open the metal door and stepped inside the dimly lit room. He looked along the wall for a switch and quickly brightened the room. It was a vast space, with large bed on the side, two doors on the parallel wall of the bed, a small lamp, and above him, an enourmous chandelier. The room certainly was fairly simple compaired to the other parts of the train, but he liked it better that way. So far none of the Capital's flashy dining sets, or lounge furniture appealed to him.
Zuko redimmed the lights, and plunged the room into darkness. Slowly he made his way over to the bed, he placed his hands out in front of him to make sure he didn't run into it. The feel of fabric touched his fingers, and he sat down on the plush matress. Sighing, he slipped of his shoes and lie down. Zuko gazed up into the darkness; his mind felt fuzzy, to full and confused to try and remake the events from the day. Turning on his side, he closed his eyes and settled in for sleep. Maybe in the morning he could try and sort things through.
A/N: Shhhh... I didn't use the past Avatars for the mentors ;P! Sorry about the long wait, I had a band contest last weekend and I couldn't get to typing. I hope you like it, still need ideas for shippings if you want to but I think I've decided. Thank you all soooooooooooo much for the reviews, they are greatly appreciated. New chapter soon! Please R&R!:)