She never knew the art of escape could be a lifestyle. Considering the number of times she'd fled from a danger she couldn't handle was becoming ridiculous and increasingly embarrassing. She repudiated any instinct to flee from his presence again. Her battle with Zuko was challenging, but she refused to run away again, daring to prove that she could finally overcome him. Of course, that confidence had only lasted so long before Azula and her men had managed to drop in on their fight, and now they were both on the run.
Having been already partly drained from her duel with Zuko, fighting Azula and her army was not an option, and apparently, Zuko thought the same. But they weren't running together, they were running against each other. A race: whoever proved to be the slowest became dog chow for Azula.
Hanging branches and muddy snow didn't provide Katara with much support as she sprinted downhill through the thickening wood, receiving multiple cuts and bruises from the wildlife surrounding her, though she tried not to let it slow her down. Out of the corner of her eye, she could spy Zuko to her left, no farther nor lesser ahead than she was. They had always tended to equalize in stamina, which was something Katara usually prided herself on, but now it was just annoying.
Azula was closing in behind them, blue fire licking at the backs of their necks. Zuko could barely hear anything specific. The heavy pounding of his breathing reverberating off the walls of his cranium mixed with the constant thundering of falling trees and crackling fire behind them consumed half of his senses, while the need to get away fueled the other half. If he could somehow create a diversion, perhaps it would be enough to get further away, but it wouldn't be easy to divert attention away from him; the scarlet dyes in his clothing didn't hide him well against the frosted white coating of the woods surrounding them.
Before he could create a concept worthy enough to be considered a plan, a swift ball of fire was hurled between Zuko and Katara, exploding against a tree that sent the two flying in opposite directions. Katara's hearing droned out for a few seconds before resurfacing enough for her to realize that she'd been flung to the ground in a flurry of splinters and ashes. Her hands suffered multiple deep cuts and her landing had caused her arm to twist in a way unintended. Zuko's bruised body hadn't been any more fortunate, but he managed to quickly pick himself off the ground and resume running, the knowledge of Azula's shortening perimeter keeping him motivated. Not much earlier, Katara had done the same and was only a few steps ahead of him. When she'd been tossed to the ground, she managed to feel the vibrations of a large engine approaching their direction, and upon inspection, she could distinguish the puffed smoke of a train coming quickly her way. Without hesitation she ran as fast as she could towards the approaching locomotive before it could pass through the area without her.
Hopping over a few fallen logs, Zuko endeavored to keep up with Katara. He seemed to be losing their race and if he didn't gain distance on her, he'd suffer as Azula's main target. His body began to feel the pain that had inflicted him and a sharp pinch attacked the back of his shoulder.
The amount of focus Katara contained was admirable. As Zuko tried his best to keep up with her without tripping over trees or getting too dizzy, he could see that she clearly had a plan and was going all out for it. It wasn't until they reached a small clearing that he was able to see the train she was sprinting towards. The engine was picking up speed and if they didn't move faster, neither of them would be able to jump on. But luck seemed to be on their side today. The melting snow of the banks allowed them to slide quicker towards the train, while also proving to be too much for Azula's komodo rhinos, who were untrained to charge in the snow.
Only a few seconds ahead of him, Katara had managed to lunge into one of the train's boxcars, as Zuko struggled to match the locomotive's increasing velocity. He could hear his sister's penetrative voice screeching orders for him to be captured and killed before he could board the train, and by the looks of it, she was going to succeed. He raced the edge of the tracks faster than he'd ever run before and stretched out his arm to try and grab onto the boxcar's railing, but the more he stretched, the farther away from his reach it seemed to get. He could start to feel his legs giving in and his mind was starting to recognize the fact that he wasn't going to make it, until he felt a hand reach out and clasp around his wrist.
Looking up as he continued to run, he was matched with Katara's eyes. Their blue orbs begging him to push harder so that she could pull him up. And push he did. His gaze never leaving Katara's, he forced himself faster until he could no longer feel his legs as she pulled him closer to her and lifted him up into the boxcar to the best of her abilities.
Zuko collapsed on the car's wooden floor as Katara continued to pull the rest of his body inside so his legs were no longer hanging off the edge. The train continued to pick up speed, allowing them to travel safely out of Azula's range since her men and komodo rhinos had no chance of keeping up, but neither Zuko nor Katara wanted to take the risk of looking back.
Still gasping heavily in order to regain their breaths, the two continued to stare at each other, hesitant to make a move. Zuko was sure that Katara wouldn't save his life only to try and end it right after, but she couldn't be as positive of his motives, so he made as little movement as possible to try and show her that he wasn't going to pull anything on her.
She watched him carefully, studying his figure and immediately pointing out all his major injuries. He was certainly in no condition to attack her, and by the way he was looking at her, he wasn't going to, but looks could be deceiving; she'd learned that too many times by now. Even if he had decided to launch something at her, he was too weak to do it successfully and she would easily be able to fend him off and throw him off the train if she desired, so Katara broke her gaze from Zuko's steady golden eyes and focused more on her own injuries. With an agonizing pain radiating from her contorted arm, Katara settled herself down and prepared to heal it with the little water she had remaining.
If they were still fighting, they'd have to put it on pause.
Observing that Katara was clearly more worried about herself than their rivalry, as she should be, Zuko also settled himself down against the wall opposite to her. He could feel himself slowly losing consciousness, but falling asleep wasn't the safest idea, not so much for Katara's presence, but because he knew that there was a strong chance that his sister would be waiting for them wherever the train's next stop was. He wouldn't put it beneath her. Azula had her ways and her ability to always be one step ahead of him admittedly frightened him on multiple occasions. There was the idea of jumping off the train before it reached its next destination, but by the speed that the world was passing by through the open door of the boxcar; Zuko could tell that a jump at this speed could very well kill them, especially in their conditions. Unless the train started to slow down at some point, they'd have to wait and see what was in store for them.
He turned his attention back to Katara as he watched her hands glow against her skin. Her wounds looked painful if not agonizing and he couldn't help but admire how she was able to appear so calm as she treated them. The clear concentration she possessed was reflected through her determined eyes. He felt it ironic that such a calming blue color could also take on the appearance of being perturbed. Even though they sat more than a few feet away from each other, the azure hue of her eyes was bright enough to be able to distinguish from a distance, and Zuko couldn't help but stare at them before gently passing out.
With her water supply beginning to run drastically low, Katara focused as hard as she could on nursing her injuries, but also kept a wary eye on Zuko, who appeared to have fallen asleep. Luckily, she was able to fix her most serious wounds, including her arm, which she had managed to reduce down to a mere sprain, and some deep cuts to her face and abdomen. The remaining gashes could be healed in time and would only need something to stop the bleeding, which Katara was able to satisfy by stealing some cloths from a couple of the wooden crates on board.
After wrapping up the rest of her injuries she looked over at Zuko to see what she could maybe do for him, but her heart skipped a few beats upon realizing that his chest was no longer rising and falling like it was before. She swiftly crawled over to him and kneeled down beside his head. She bent her neck down and rested her ear against his chest for signs of a heartbeat, but she found it extremely shallow and unpromising. She placed her palm to hover in front on his mouth, but couldn't sense any kind of breath brushing against it. Without any water left for her to use, she immediately began CPR. She pounded his chest in frustration as she continued doing compressions to no avail. Although her fragile arm was aching under the stress, his heart remained weak and his breathing wasn't improving.
She took a pause to regain her own breath and try to ease the panic that was steadily growing in her gut. She reviewed his body over again to search for any other signs of vitality, until her eyes rested upon a patch of skin in his neck that had become severely bruised and blackened. With further inspection she noticed that the bruising led down and around his shoulder where the veins there had become swelled and seemed to be popping out of his skin. She followed the veiny trail to his back where she found a poison dart sticking out of his scapula and she cursed herself for not recognizing it earlier.
Without hesitation she removed the dart and attempted to sit him up further so that she could get at the wound from a better angle. Bending her head down, she placed her lips in an O against his skin and sucked out as much poison as she could muster. She sucked for what seemed like an eternity before she finally started getting the taste of blood and spit out the rest of the vile substance, making sure none resided in her mouth. Her cheeks and jaw were sore from the plumbing as she waited in silent hope that he'd come to.
Katara didn't realize how long she'd been holding her breath until Zuko finally started to regain consciousness. As his breathing began to regulate at last, she tried her best to wipe the blood from off of his skin and wrap the remaining cloths that she had ripped up around his deeper cuts, but the thin material didn't last long before it was soaked completely through.
"Use my shirt." She heard him cough unexpectedly.
Katara nodded in understanding of what he meant and didn't want him to strain from repeating himself. As gently as she could, she lifted his shirt up and over his torso. She rolled it up into a ball and pressed it against his deepest wound until all signs of bleeding from it stopped.
As they sat next to each other, silent except for the sounds of their breathing, Katara shifted her gaze to the view through the boxcar's open door. It was a shame; there was so much water outside, but at the speed they were going, she'd barely have time to get a grasp on it before it was out of her range. But the train was destined to slow down at some point and when it did, she'd be sure to heal Zuko's remaining wounds as fast as she could.
The cool air from outside was refreshing as Zuko continued to lean his back against the wall and rest. His interest moved from the outdoors to the woman beside him as he noticed Katara's expression of deep thought.
It was unfortunate that he had to be an enemy to her, but could they truthfully call themselves enemies as they were supposed to be? Did enemies admire, dream, and need one another the same way that he did her? In all his travels, Zuko had never met a woman as intriguing as her. And deep down he knew that she held more honor than he ever could. He knew he would never be as good a person as she was, but if he ever could, he would never treat her the way many people had in the past, himself included. He sometimes hated himself for the way he abused her, but it couldn't be prevented. He found himself wanting to be more and more like her, but at the same time he knew that he was supposed to be her rival.
He told himself that he shouldn't even be alive right now. She had no reason to save him, in fact, she had multiple reasons not to save him, yet she did because she knew in her heart that it was right. And although he knew it was against his place, Zuko strongly felt that he needed to do the same for her. Wherever and whenever the train stops, Azula would most likely be waiting for them, and when the time came, he had to protect Katara. If she chose to fight, he would stay by her side. If she chose to run, he would hold off Azula as long as he could in hopes that he could give Katara enough time to get away.
At this time they were friends, whether Katara knew it or not, and he'd do whatever he could to keep her safe. He owed her that much at the least for saving him twice in the past hour.
The worried look on her face highlighted her beautiful features. Her tattered hair fell down gracefully around her shoulders and outlined her shapely chest. Zuko couldn't help but to observe how tight and well-formed her legs and rear-end appeared. And it was all natural; the war did that to you. He learned firsthand how always being on the run made up for a lack of training and sparing matches. Your strength came from real life experiences and Katara had been subjected to it for a long time.
He rested his palm on her thigh and attempted to smile to her that everything was going to be alright, but the contact sparked a hormonal response in him and comfort soon shifted into desire. Slowly, so as not to startle her, he ran his other hand up her back and clasped it around the back of her neck.
"Thank you Katara."
She studied him intently as he spoke, but didn't mutter a word in response.
She wished she didn't feel the range of emotions that Zuko tended to bring out of her. Although she knew that he couldn't be trusted, there still resided a nagging urge to always be by his side. It often weighed heavy on her conscience. She had pledged herself to protecting the Avatar, but at the same time she felt the need to comfort his adversary. It pained her to see him get hurt even though they were constantly trying to hurt each other. It tended to mess with her mind, and probably his as well.
It just always felt like they were putting on a show. When others were around, they were enemies, but when alone with each other, it almost felt natural like they had known each other forever. And right now they were alone.
She closed her eyes and trembled slightly as his hand began to massage the back of her neck and then moved upwards to perform the same technique to her occipital bone. The moan that escaped her throat was low and tender, but it fueled Zuko's ego enough for him to continue. He knew she wanted it; there was no need to talk about it. If she changed her mind, she'd let him know. He tightened the grasp he had on her thigh and pulled her closer until she was nearly on top of him. His lower abdomen began to flip around with arousal by the way her breathing became heavier and more ragged, accompanied by the sight of her chest heaving up and down. Inch by agonizingly slow inch she unconsciously scooted herself closer to him until she was straddling his thigh between her own. His breath hitched as her knee delicately brushed against his groin and she bent down to suck on the spot of his neck where the bruising had thus receded. He let out a loud groan and felt his nerves spike as he easily found the strength to grab onto her waist and pull her completely onto his body to start grinding his genitalia upwards into hers.
Her mind grew fuzzy with longing. His hardening erection pressed into her crotch with vigor and only grew stronger the more they grinded into each other. Her lips abandoned their hold on his neck and ventured upwards to nip at his scarred ear, which seemed to take him by surprise. His grip on her torso slackened as well as his bucking hips as she glided her lips gently from his ear and across the marred skin under his eye. She could feel his body tense under hers as she continued to kiss the side of his nose and work her way down to his lips. She wrapped her palms around the back of his head for support as she lightly sucked his lips against her own and grazed her thumbs across his temples.
Though startled at first by her affectionate actions, Zuko refrained from reacting too vehemently and allowed himself to bask in the sensation of Katara's ministrations. As she ran her lips against his own, he was finally able to bring himself back to reality. With one arm, he tightened his hold once more around her and rolled their positions so that his body now hovered over hers, all the while being sure to move carefully so as not to stir any pain from either of their wounds.
He used his forearm to prop himself up as he ran his free hand down over Katara's torso. He pulled loose the tie to her shirt and gazed appreciatively as it fell open, leaving him the sight of her slackened bindings. He thought about ripping them off, but the blood spots that stained them clearly showed that they were covering some injuries from before and he didn't want to take the chance of reopening any wounds. Instead, he worked his fingers downwards and grasped onto the hem of her pants. She agreeably allowed him to slide them off her body as she was becoming extremely hot in them and would have probably started sweating if he hadn't removed them.
Bending down, he lifted her leg and placed it on top of his shoulder to give him better access to the desired area. Matching bindings covered her lower body as well, but as far as he could tell, she had suffered no injuries there and were free to be removed. He felt her fingers start to rummage through his hair as he traced his nose around her most sensitive areas. He ran his own fingertips up and down the back of her bare thigh and kissed along the inside, making her squirm in craving. Not being able to take much more, Katara untied her lower bindings on her own, hoping that Zuko would stop teasing her upon being exposed to what was underneath.
His cock rose to full extent and he removed her leg from off of his shoulder in order to lower his own pants and undergarments in preparation to penetrate her. He steadied himself directly above her and slowly moved his hips down to glide himself inside of her, but before he could, she grabbed his throbbing shaft and began to massage up and down. She clearly wanted to make his pay for teasing her only seconds earlier, and she was greatly succeeding.
She milked her way up to the head where she began to draw gentle circles around his tip. Zuko let out a groan of annoyance and arousal as she threatened to make him ejaculate before getting what he really wanted. His breath pounded against the nape of her neck and she didn't have to look to figure out that his precum was sliding down the back of her hand. Deciding that he'd had enough torture, Katara grasped his member in her palm once again and led him down to her entrance before he decided he couldn't hold it in any longer.
Zuko gasped at the feeling of his dick nudging against Katara's opening. Before she could move him away, he quickly gathered her thighs up in his arms and pulled her onto him. He stopped breathing completely as the sensation of his penis sheathing itself inside of her blankened his mind. Once he succeeded in pushing in all the way, he began pounding into her with might.
The vibrations from the train's movement only fueled their ecstasy and Katara had to clamp her teeth together to keep from yelping. She raked her fingers down his bare back as he switched from pounding her to grinding into her smoothly. She buried her face in between Zuko's neck and shoulder, feeling the low moans in his throat quiver against her cheek. She wrapped a leg around him and grinded up into him in return, making him shake with excitement. She looked up expecting to see his eyes closed in concentration, but instead they openly resided on her face, their golden tint appeared as though they were almost melting as he gazed at her longingly, wondering if he'd ever share a moment as good as this ever again.
He could feel himself getting close to release. His vision was starting to blur and he could feel the buildup of his cock about to spasm uncontrollably. With one final thrust, Zuko's mind cleared of any kind of fear as his penis violently throbbed inside of Katara and splattered her inner walls with cum.
Upon retrieving his vision from the paralyzing whiteness that had overcome him, he gazed down to witness Katara enjoying a similar reaction. Her leg was still tightly wound around his back and didn't slacken in grip as she continued to convulse around him. As she regained her breath and sense of awareness, Zuko lowered his head down to lean his forehead against hers and gave her small pecks between gasps. He laid himself down on top of her for a little while as she tickled the back of his neck with her fingertips and ran her hands down his back and across his bare ass before he undesirably lifted himself up and out of her. They slid their pants back on before lying down side by side and watching the world pass by through the open door.
Zuko stretched himself out like a cat and initiated a much needed series of cracks through his back, his wounds barely bothering him anymore. He studied Katara, observing how exhausted she was as the gentle rocking of the train began to lull her to sleep. He pulled her up against him and laid her head against his chest while he smoothed away some of the hair stuck to her face. She purred lightly against him, but he knew it would be short lived. Sooner or later they'd have to become enemies again. He wasn't looking forward to it, but for now it was the way things were. Perhaps some time in the near future everything would change and they wouldn't have to hide the things they felt for each other, but that could have just as much been a wish unfulfilled. Zuko tried not to ponder it too much and returned his focus on making sure Katara was comfortable while they still had time.
To say that he was in love was a bit of a stretch, but the way he felt around Katara often gave him hope that his life didn't need to be as misfortunate as he made it out to be. There was some kind of bond between the two of them that bordered along passion and understanding, and although they never talked about it, he knew she felt it too.
AN: I don't completely remember if they had trains in the avatar universe, but trains are the shit, so I put one in anyway. Hope you don't mind . . . and also that you enjoyed the story.