"Let me go!" Katara screamed thrashing against her bindings. Zuko sighed, "If that didn't work the last hundred times what makes you think it will work now?" he asked. Katara twisted and pulled his newly grown hair. Zuko yelped and dropped her. Katara made another futile attempt at escape before Zuko grabbed her again. "You can't even see where do you expect to go?" Zuko asked annoyed. "Aang will save me!" Katara yelled back. "Oh, I'm sure he will. In fact I'm counting on it." Zuko replied annoyance evaporating. He looked around at the clearing they had stumbled into. "Actually this will make a pretty good camp," he stated, "Want to see?" Zuko knelt and tied Katara to a nearby tree, then took off her blindfold.
Katara huffed as Zuko tightened her ropes. "What happens if we're attacked?" she asked. "I won't be able to fight! Then I could DIE!" Zuko hid his amusement, "Don't worry your pretty little head about it. I'll fight off any big mean bad guys that might want to kill you." He replied in a baby voice. "How can you fight yourself?" she spat. Zuko stiffened and was glad that she couldn't see his face. "I would never attack a defenseless foe, let alone kill anyone. Be sure of that." He said finishing.
Katara regretted her last comment. It was never a good idea to anger the people who are holding you captive. "I know, I'm sorry," Katara said truthfully. Zuko came around in front of her and looked her in the eyes. "You are one strange waterbender," He commented. The he stiffed and his eyes went wide. In what seemed like half a second he pulled a knife out of seemingly no where and cut Katara free. "Run," he told her. She bolted for the forest, but tripped. A ring of blue fire appeared out of no where and circled their camp, just missing Katara's nose. She didn't know what to do, but did the thing that seemed most sensible. She hid behind a bush.
Zuko pulled out his duel swords and watched as his sister jumped into the campsite. "Oh, high Zuzu," Azula said as if she had just run into him in the market. "What do you want Azula?" he asked angrily. "What? Can't a sister visit her older brother without there being some sort of evil plot behind it?" she asked innocently. "What do you want?" Zuko repeated. "Just stopping by to see how you were doing," she said examining her nails, "So how's dad's greatest disappointment doing?" she asked. Zuko almost growled in anger.
Azula sighed and looked at him. "I came to ask you one more time to join me," She said, "Which side would you rater be on Zuzu? The side with me, your own sister, and the Fire Lord, your own father? Or the side with the old tea drinking slob of an uncle and our horrible mother?" Zuko slashed out with his sword in anger sending a jet of fire at Azula. She swiftly dodged it. "DON'T TALK ABOUT MOTHER LIKE THAT!" he growled. "Oh, come now Zuko, she left us, she left you," Azula stated, "She ran away, she never loved you. She just took advantage of her post as Fire Lady then left."
"Liar!" Zuko screamed. He shot another wave of fire at her, but she dodged again. Azula started walking towards Zuko. "She ran like your running. I see you Zuko, I know you. You're not trying to find the avatar your running. Running from our nation, running from the war, running from our father. And running from the undeniable reality," Azula was talking into Zuko's ear now, "our mother is dead." Zuko screamed and attacked her. She jumped back, but not before Zuko could land her a cut to the cheek. Yet when she caught her balance she had her signature evil grin on her face, even with her cheek bleeding away.
"Congratulations, you are now a full blown traitor and refugee." Azula sang. She pointed at her cut, "That is penalty of death." Realization dawned on Zuko. "That was the only reason you came, wasn't it?" He asked already knowing the answer. "Yup!" she laughed happily and jumped away. The blue fire died and like that she was gone.
Zuko fell to the ground and wept. He felt the tug of insanity on his mind. He wept with his face on the ground for awhile before he sat up and hugged his knees to his chest.
Katara crept out of her hiding place. Her heart ached at the site of Zuko. She wasn't used to him being like this, so weak. What had happened to the fierce fire bender she knew? She had heard everything that had been exchanged between the siblings and felt shared sadness, especially the parts about his mother. That story had yet to been heard. Her mother instinct kicked in and she made her way to Zuko.
Katara sat next to him and wrapped her arms around him. She silently started stroking his hair as he cried. "Shhhhhhhh," She whispered into his ear, "Everything's going to be alright. I'm here and your sister's gone," She said in her motherly voice.
Mother stroked my head as she held me. "Why did you leave?" I asked through the cloud of sadness that was enveloping me. "I never left you Zuko. And I never will," she told me, "Now sleeeeep Zuko. I will watch over you." I felt the pull of sleep come. The darkness was pulling me into its grasp. The last thing I heard before I was lost was mother's voice. "I love you."
Katara was washing her face with some water she had gotten from a nearby stream. She supposed she should of left hours ago, but she couldn't find it within herself to leave Zuko in the state he was in. The full moon shone in the night sky filling Katara with strength. She looked over at Zuko again. There he slept in the same place he had fallen, with the blanket Katara had draped over him. She sighed. Something had cracked inside of her once sworn enemy at Azula's words, yet he looked so peaceful in his deep sleep. She looked up at the moon that seemed to be watching over them. She wondered if Yue could see her.
"May I ask your name water tribe girl?" Katara started at the soft voice. She spun around to see a beautiful woman standing behind her. "Ka-Katara," she stammered. A soft smile appeared on the woman's lips. "Katara," she repeated. Her long brown hair seemed to blow gently on a nonexistent wind. She was pale with kind brown eyes and a soft perfect smile. She was dressed in the most beautiful dress Katara had ever seen. All together she was perfectly stunning. "Thank you Katara." The woman said kindly. "For what?" Katara asked. She couldn't shake the feeling that this woman wasn't really there. "For seeing the good in my son, and teaching him to love." She said. Then she was gone with the wind. Katara wondered if she had ever been there at all. All she had left of the woman was the memory of her voice, echoing in the shadows, whispering like the wind.