Frozen Flames Part Two
Before we can begin where part one left off, I want to recap some of the things that happened before she and Zuko met in the crystal catacombs.
Aang watched Katara as she slept, cuddling up on Appa's saddle. Sokka was also sleeping, and Momo was curled up on his head. They'd been flying for a while now, and the young monk groaned, bored out of his mind. He looked down- they were right at the edge of what looked like a huge swamp- it went further than his line of vision, and he was just about to grab his glider and fly ahead when he heard Katara gasp. He whipped his head around, and watched as her eyebrows knitted together and she flinched, her body convulsing. She whimpered, and just as he went to wake her up, she said the name that Aang had come to hate.
"Zuko." she murmured, and reached a hand out drowsily, then drew it back to her body, gasping again as something in her dreams scared her. She let her fingers search through the air once more, and mouthed his name, opening her eyes just in time to let the tears spill out and hit the leather saddle beneath her. Aang turned away, feeling guilty.
After she had been fully healed after her imprisonment on Zuko's ship, it had taken forever for her to fully trust him again- she'd leaned heavily on her memories of being with her brother, and then rebuilt her past with his help. It had taken away some opportunities for him- like on Kyoshi Island when he was too busy helping her to go train with Suki and the rest of the Kyoshi warriors. That hadn't stopped him from going on a date with her, but apparently he'd said something stupid about how women weren't supposed to be warriors and she'd discovered his inner stupidity.
By the time they'd gotten to the North Pole and the Water Tribe which ruled it, they'd already had more run ins with Zuko than he could count. When Katara stole that water bending scroll, for example.
She's told her two companions about it later, about being tied to a tree by Zuko and asked about the Avatar's whereabouts. "It was weird though," she said quizzically, "one of the pirates threatened to hurt me if I didn't tell them where you were but Zuko totally freaked out and was all 'you will not touch a hair on her head' and stuff. He even threatened to burn the bending scroll. It was like he would have done anything to keep me from getting hurt." she finished off, blushing. Aang had looked away guiltily as Sokka convinced her she was wrong (he was never told anything about Katara's stay with Zuko, the two of them both thought she was simply kept in prison until he'd saved her) but he still didn't regret his choice to keep the way she had felt about Zuko a secret.
He had hope when she'd had a crush on Jet- but that ended once he tried to destroy the Earth Kingdom village, so Aang didn't know for sure if her feelings for Zuko were still there or not. And when that crazy general had tried to force him into the Avatar state by capturing her and making it look like he'd killed her, Aang had finally admitted to himself that he loved her. It had started to show right before they went to the fortune teller. He was her best friend, and she loved him… and who would be better for her to fall in love with than someone she trusted completely? Maybe he didn't have to rely on anyone else to keep her heart away from the Fire Nation's crown prince- maybe she would realize that all she'd ever need in a man was in Aang.
And then in the siege of the Northern Water Tribe, she had battled Zuko, and now her nightmares were back- horrible dreams where she couldn't reach the one she loved, couldn't even see him, and it ended when a blast of fire forced her backwards and made her hit her head, like Aang had told her of how she lost her memory. He hated seeing her go through that, but now that she was a master water bender, he could learn from her and go to the Earth Kingdom to find an earth bending teacher.
Aang snapped back to the present, realizing for the first time that Appa had started to dip in the sky, lower, towards the trees below them.
"Aang?" Katara said uncertainly. "Why are we going down?" He grabbed the reins and pulled upwards, away from the eerie lush ground beneath them. They continued to talk to each other, but he found his attention drifting back to the swamp- it wasn't noticeable, but he kept hearing a low murmur, like it was calling to him. Suddenly, a whirlwind came out of nowhere, and in the midst of the confusion and panic, they were thrown into the swamp.
As they got up, he looked around, trying to ignore the battered state of his body. A harsh realization came to him. "Where's Appa and Momo?" he asked uncertainly, and went up to the top of the trees to look- there was no sign of them, and he felt a deep pang in his stomach. He came back down, and Katara looked at his worriedly.
"You couldn't find them?" she asked, and he shook his head. Losing Appa was like a knife in his gut- they were the only members left of what had once been the great Air Nomad civilization- without him there, he felt so alone. He watched as Sokka hacked through the plants, and felt uneasy- something had gotten heavier in the air, and they felt like they were being watched.
Katara shivered- this place gave her the creeps, and without Appa, they had no way of getting out of the swamp. They walked around almost all day, and she found herself feeling more and more like she was being followed. Some of it was the fact that she could feel Aang's eyes on her, which confused her. He was like her little brother, but he didn't seem to think of her that way. She felt something grab at her ankle underneath the water, and she stumbled, shrieking as she wrenched her foot forward, barely listening to Sokka's panicked shouts and Aang's concerned questions.
"Something grabbed me!" She said, shuddering, and the two boys went still, looking around fearfully. She searched for higher ground, and found roots of the trees sticking up above the water. Katara scrambled over to them, trying to water bend the swamp river around her, but it was sluggish, feeling too heavy to give her a boost onto the stump.
"Aang, help me up!" She called, and felt his hand grip the sole of her foot. He boosted Sokka up in the same way and propelled himself up with the air surrounding them, and they continued their search for their animals.
Later that night, they stopped to make camp. Aang pulled her aside, worry plain in his grey eyes. "Have you noticed that every time Sokka chops something up, the air gets heavier? Like something doesn't like it." She shook her head, and he shrugged, looking downcast. "Maybe it's because I'm an air bender. It just doesn't feel right in here- it's like the air is alive, and not willing to cooperate."
"I feel the same way with the water. I tried bending it earlier, but it seemed like it didn't want to obey me…" She heard Sokka's laugh from behind her. She whipped around and glared at her brother as he tried to build a suitable fire. "What's so funny? Don't tell me you can't feel it too!" They bickered for a little while, even as they huddled together for warmth and comfort- she tried not to notice how Aang's hand twitched whenever she set her own palm against the earth next to his, like he wanted to touch her. She didn't know how to tell him that she didn't want that with him- besides, he hadn't made a move yet, so she figured she didn't have to mention it.
She was awoken from her sleep abruptly by Sokka's scream, and felt something cold and rough tug at her ankles. A yell tore itself from her throat as she was wrenched away from her brother and Aang- she looked down to see vines twisted around her body, moving sickeningly. A rock grazed the bottom of her foot, and she pushed down hard, pushing her body up in the air as her hands motioned frantically, calling on her bending water. She made water whips and started slicing the vines, running away as they came from every direction in the mist that surrounded her. After a while she slowed down, panting, and looked around, her stomach churning when she realized she was alone. She sighed, and started walking, glancing around for her companions.
By the next morning, she was exhausted, hungry, and frightened. The swamp was huge; she had known it all along. She'd been stupid to go looking for them; they were probably lost just like her! Hey eyes swept the greenish brown landscape, looking for the blue of Sokka's shirt, or the brightly colored monk's uniform Aang wore. Suddenly, she saw something- light blue, and tall. She stepped closer, and her heart fell when she was the long hair- it wasn't her brother.
"Hello? Hello? Can you help me?" she asked the figure, but they didn't turn, or even acknowledge her voice. She peered at them- there was something familiar about the clothes they wore, and the style of their hair. She gasped as it hit her.
"Mom? Mom!" She cried, running towards her. "I can't believe it's you-" Her hand touched rough wood, and she reared back, shocked. It was a stump sticking out of the water. Her mother was dead. And it was still her fault. Katara collapsed to her knees and sobbed. There had been one hope in her heart, and it was gone, broken into a thousand pieces by her own stupid imagination. "I miss you." she whispered brokenly, and suddenly, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She gasped, not daring to look up. If this was a delusion, she didn't want to ruin it. She waited for something to happen and closed her eyes expectantly.
"Katara… it's not your fault." She froze, hearing Zuko's voice behind her. Her mind was torn, she wanted to turn around and see if it was real, but at the same time, the words echoed to her from another part of her heart- this had happened before, she knew it.
"Zuko?" she asked, and his hand grew warmer, she closed her eyes again at the sensation and stood up slowly, feeling strong arms wrap tenderly around her waist- she laid her head on a phantom chest, and suddenly she wasn't in the swamp anymore, she was staring into the eyes of a handsome young man, and the words were coming out of her mouth as a reflex. "I love Aang as a friend, but I think I might love you as something different." Tears gathered in her eyes, this was in a different place and time, a fantasy- Aang had told her how much she hated the Prince, but this felt familiar- it was real, like seeing her mother had not been. He pulled her close and kissed her roughly, and she tensed up at the swell of emotion in his voice.
"Oh, Tara. I love you too," he murmured against her hair, and she felt her knees buckle, the world go black. When she awoke, she was lying on a small patch of dry ground, looking down at her hands. They seemed empty, but she was slowly becoming aware of a body against her back, an arm draped over her waist. She sat up abruptly with a scream, shying away from the feeling- but when she looked behind her, no one was there. There was something nagging at the back of her mind, but she could only think about what had happened. The memory had been bright and full of details, things she wished she knew- now that it was over, she wasn't entirely sure it had been real. She sighed, burying her head in her hands, and felt something warm wash over her, like the sun.
"Remember, Katara…" A whisper carried on the winds, and she felt tears coursing down her cheeks.
"I'm trying, but I can't! Why? Why do I remember things that never happened?" she cried, and suddenly saw Zuko in front of her. He looked at her gently, pain visible in his eyes- he searched her blue orbs longingly.
"It did happen. Please, remember, I need you." he said softly, and leaned forward to caress her cheek. Before his hand could reach her, something collided with her sharply, and the breath was knocked out of her. She flew backwards, hitting something hard but soft and knocking it over. She looked around and saw Aang rubbing a spot on his head, eyes apologizing for running into her. And Sokka was yelling at her.
"What do you guys think you were doing? I've been looking all over for you!" She shot back a snotty comment, and then stopped short when Aang talked about seeing a girl. Sokka joked around, but she glanced down. She wasn't the only one who had seen things.
"I thought I saw… Mom." she said uncertainly, deciding not to mention Zuko. After all, if Aang had seen someone he didn't know, it might have just been a hallucination. She comforted herself with that notion, shivering slightly at the feeling that she had missed something that was greatly important.
After that night, her bad dreams stopped. They were replaced by a feeling of well being and warmth that carried over into her waking moments- it felt like a calloused hand stroking the length of her cheek, or a small kiss on her forehead. Sometimes she dreamt strange things- an older, somewhat familiar man pouring her tea and smiling, a scarred face becoming whole again under her small, delicate hands. She didn't mention them to Aang- especially not when his crush on her became even more obvious.
They went to a smaller town to find Aang an earth bending teacher, and he came across Toph Bei Fong, a smaller girl his age who was not only a skilled master, but blind. She and Sokka became best friends from the start. By that time, they hadn't seen Zuko since the battle at the North Pole, but his sister was hunting them, and proved to be much more of a threat. Azula and her friends Mai and Ty Lee were lethal, and when they went to a library to gain information on the Fire Nation, they lost Appa. The same day they learned about a solar eclipse, one that would render the fire benders completely useless. Knowing they would have to tell the Earth King about it if they wanted a chance to defeat the Fire Lord Ozai, the group decided to go to Ba Sing Se- the Earth Kingdom's capital.
On their journey they had once again run into the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, Sokka's friend Suki. She led them across the Serpent's Pass, and had rescued Toph when she had fallen into the water during an attack- the blind girl used earth bending to sense her surroundings, and in water, she had no idea how to save herself. After that, Suki had given Sokka a talking to- something Toph had said about Sokka when she resurfaced had made her ask Sokka how he felt about Toph, and he had thought about it. Now he and Toph were together, best friends and something more than they couldn't really put their finger on. It was love, but not lust- they were too young. Suki had departed, and things had gone back to normal.
But Aang had changed. Since losing Appa, he had become mean and lonely. It hurt to see him like that, but there was nothing she could do. Things had changed, and the course of their adventures led them to Appa- and to the crystal catacombs underneath Lake Laogi, where Katara was put in a cell with the boy she felt so strongly for, and who she most feared- Zuko.
Okay, so this was the prologue- I hope it cleared some stuff up for you. I'm not entirely happy with it, but I had to get it out of the way before actually starting. Please review!
