DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters of Zuko, Katara, or Appa, or the bending, or anything else that has to do with the original show Avatar: The Last Airbender. Those are property of…I think Nickelodeon Studios. I only own the plot of the story, and any characters I make up [namely, Ketson and the Fire Hawks].

Chapter 1: Unwanted Attention

The wind brushed through Katara's hair as she flew on Appa, and she closed her eyes in contentment. She had chosen to not kill the former raider Yon Rha as revenge for his killing her mother, and that decision left her with more peace inside her than she would have expected. She never could or would forgive him, but she now had the closure she had always wanted.

"What are you going to do now?" Zuko's voice came from just behind her, where he rested in Appa's saddle. His question only slightly surprised her. She had expected him to ask, but neither one of them had spoken for the past two hours, not since they left Yon Rah behind them, soaking in the pouring rain.

"I don't really know," She turned around and looked into his clear, golden eyes. The setting sun seemed to make them shine brighter than normal, not that she would ever notice or anything. "But I do know that I now have no reason or excuse to force my hate of him onto you. I'm sorry."

He smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay, I'm just glad you could find your closure without having to kill him." She always noticed he was much more handsome when he smiled, but she pushed the thought from her mind and turned to face front again, letting his hand fall from her shoulder. It's not like he would ever even care about me in that way, she thought. Despite how she had always hated him, though, she had to admit he was pretty handsome, at least when his face wasn't twisted in anger or frustration like it used to always be.

They were quiet for a little while longer, then Katara remembered that they needed some more rice and rope and other supplies before returning to the others. "Hey, we need to stop and get some things before we go back. We're running low on food back at camp."

"Well okay, but where do you want to stop?" he asked, gesturing out in the direction they were moving. "We should do it soon, since we're camped in the middle of nowhere and there won't be as many islands as we get closer. Plus, it's getting dark, and we should land before shops close for the night."

"Yeah, there's an island over there that looks like it has a village or two on it," she pointed out towards their right, where lights could be seen glowing dimly in the fading daylight. "I thought maybe we could stop there."

"Alright." Zuko settled back into the saddle, but she somehow knew he was still keeping an eye on her. She wasn't sure why, but he'd been watching her since they left Yon Rha. He wasn't really looking at her, per se, like normal boys often look at normal girls, but more like he was keeping an eye on her.

A few moments later, Appa managed to touch down unnoticed on the island, about a mile or so from the nearest village. Katara and Zuko left him with promises to bring back a treat along with their other supplies.

They walked quickly to the town and began looking for shops that sold what they needed. There was certainly a variety of shops in the small town that sold a variety of wares, particularly seashell jewelry and dishes. However, most shops were already closing for the night, and ones that were still open didn't have the food they needed. "This is ridiculous!" Katara finally cried out in exasperation. "There's no way we'll find everything we need before nightfall, maybe we should split up."

"No. Bad idea. We don't want to do that." Zuko's eyes shifted each time he spoke, and Katara noticed he was shuffling his feet as well. He had been slightly fidgety practically since they entered the village, looking all around, not just at the shops.

She placed her hands on her hips. "Why not?" She couldn't figure out why he was so against it, or what was making him so restless.

"Haven't you noticed? We're being followed." Zuko jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, and Katara noticed for the first time that there was a trio of rough-looking boys about their age who were watching them closely.

"For how long?"

"It started a few minutes after we came in, just as it was starting to get dark. At first there was only one, but then he got some friends." So that was what he was watching, she realized.

Katara watched the three boys over Zuko's shoulder for a few seconds, then smirked. "We can take them."

"Are you sure? Look closer, each one has a strip of red cloth tied around his left bicep. And, including those three, I've seen at least a dozen guys in the market so far with the same red cloth, and many of them have been doing fire bending of some sort. I'd bet my fire bending that they're all members of a local gang, possibly solely of fire benders."

Katara looked at the boys again, Zuko had a point, and now that she was looking for them, a cursory glance around the market showed her that Zuko was right, and she wasn't sure that even the two of them could take on so many fire benders. But then she noticed something more.

"There's just one more problem, Zuko," Katara said, looking back at him.

"What?"

"They've got us surrounded."