This is a one-shot preview of the story I am currently working on. The focus here is on Kataang and Katara's protective attitude. I feel too many stories degrade Katara into a damsel in distress, and I want to change that. I would really appreciate reviews and comments. Tell me the good and the bad. Constructive criticism is invaluable to aspiring writers like myself.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. This is merely fanfiction dedicated to an awesome series.

Katara's Sworn Duty

It was late in the evening when Zuko finally got back to Bah Sing Se, landing Appa right in front of his uncle's tea shop. Katara, Sokka, Suki, and Toph were at the door when he entered. Iroh must've already gone to bed. They quickly engaged in a group hug. That's when he groaned in pain and Katara noticed his various cuts, bruises, and burns.

"Sit on the couch and I'll heal you," she commanded. "Those injuries look bad."

He did as she requested. "Thank you. It was a rather rough encounter."

Katara started to work on healing him but quickly noticed who had not returned with him. "Um…where is Aang? He came back with you, right?"

Zuko suddenly felt scared. He didn't want to be the messenger, for in this case he knew Katara would be furious.

"Well…um…you see…"

"He did come back, right?" Katara asked. When Zuko didn't respond, she stopped her healing. "What are you not telling us?"

"Yeah Zuko, where is Aang?" Sokka joined in.

"Did he stay in the Fire Nation or something?" Suki chimed in.

Zuko tried to distract them. "Ow! Katara, it really hurts. Could you please-"

"I'm not healing you until you tell us where Aang is," Katara cut him off with a stern voice. "Did he come back with you or not?"

Zuko hung his head. He really did not want to tell them the truth.

"I think he just went into town for a second," Zuko lied.

"No he didn't. I can tell you're lying, hothead," Toph replied.

"All right Zuko. Spill the beans. Why isn't Aang with you?" Sokka said with a firm voice.

"He was captured," Zuko admitted. This earned a gasp from everyone.

"WHAT?" Everyone exclaimed.

"How was he captured? You two were just going to the fire nation prison so Aang could remove Azula's bending." Suki asked.

"She was waiting for us," Zuko explained. "When we opened her cell so Aang could do his work, she caught us all off guard with a major blast. After her surprise attack some of the guards proclaimed they were still loyal to her and aided her. Aang and I were too shocked by the turn of events to put up much of a fight. I managed to escape but Aang didn't make it out."

Katara yelled at him. "Are you saying that you just left like a coward and let Aang be captured?"

"I was shocked and scared. I didn't know what to do, so I just rushed back here." Zuko responded.

Katara suddenly lifted the young fire lord off the couch and slammed him against the wall, choking him.

"You just ran away? You didn't try to get any help or go back and try to help him? You just left Aang with Azula? She's probably torturing him right now. He could be suffering!"

Zuko couldn't breathe. He tried to pry Katara's hands off of his throat, but couldn't. She was in a furious rage, and was stronger than anyone gave her credit for.

"Katara, you're killing him," Sokka said as he barely managed to pull Katara away from Zuko.

"You little slime ball!" Katara scolded the young fire lord who was trying to recapture his breath. "How could you just leave Aang behind like that? Not only is he the Avatar, he's our friend. He's important to all of us, especially me. How could you do this to me?"

"Katara, calm down," Sokka tried to reason with her. "Zuko wouldn't have been able to rescue Aang on his own. He did the right thing by coming back here right away."

"You're right," Katara admitted. There was no way Zuko would have been able to take down Azula and her loyal subjects in that situation. Katara's anger was replaced with sadness and regret. She started to cry. Sokka embraced her, trying to comfort her.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you two go alone," Katara sobbed, choking a little on her tears. "I knew I should've gone with you. I should've seen this coming. I should've been there."

"Katara, what could you have done?" Sokka asked, releasing his embrace.

Katara looked right at him. "I could've rescued him, Sokka. I could've kept him safe. He would be safe and everything would be okay if I had been there."

"Come on, sugar queen," Toph said. "You're only one person."

"And I happen to be the second greatest waterbender alive right now!" Katara yelled at her.

"Easy sugar queen," Toph said. "Why are you assuming all responsibility for this?"

"Yeah, Katara. Why are you taking this so personally?" Suki sided with Toph.

"We all care about Aang," Sokka said. "Why do you think your presence alone would've prevented this whole incident?"

Katara stopped crying and looked at her friends with a frown. "You wouldn't understand. It's something personal. It's a promise I made to myself. Every time I break that promise, it hurts."

Everyone looked a little confused. What exactly was she talking about? What was this promise that she mentioned?

"I'm tired. I think I'll go to bed now." Katara said with a little sadness in her voice. She walked over to Zuko and put her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Katara said.

"It's okay, Katara. I'm sorry about Aang," Zuko replied.

"You have to remember that we all care about Aang, Katara. We'll think of something." Sokka said. "Go get some rest, and we'll come up with a plan in the morning."

Katara went upstairs to her room and lied down in bed. She couldn't sleep, though. There was no way she could sleep after what she had just learned. All she could think about was Aang, and what he could be going through right now. Being in the hands of Azula, whatever he was going through was not pleasant. He was probably in terrible pain, being made to suffer for ending the reign of the fire nation's conquest. She was probably torturing him and keeping him in constant pain, making him beg for mercy. The very though brought tears to Katara's eyes and enraged her at the same time. She couldn't stand to think of Aang in anguish and pain.

If he's even still alive.

No. Katara refused to believe that for a second. She could not accept that. She could not even think of it. If Aang died, then she might as well be dead. Aang was literally her whole world. To others he was the Avatar, but to her he was everything. He was the one who taught her to have fun and laugh again. He helped her be a kid again. He gave her hope. He was the hope that she had never forgotten, even when the rest of the world had. It had to be destiny that she was the one who rescued him. She had always believed that the Avatar would return to save the world, and he literally fell into her arms. Since that day, she was the one to protect him from anything and everything.

She was his sworn protectress.

She stood for him against everyone. She defended him against Sokka, her village, the Unagi, Zuko, Azula, and countless other things. And when she failed, it hurt. She remembered how terrible she felt when Zuko managed to take him away from her in the North Pole. She released that anger on Zuko when they found him, making up for her previous failure. When she saw him die in Bah Sing Se, she was devastated. She had failed to protect him. Luckily the spirit water saved him, but she still felt like she had failed.

She couldn't take it anymore. She got out of bed and put on her regular tribal clothes.

Sokka and Suki were the first ones up that morning. They went down downstairs to find Iroh was making tea, but there was no breakfast.

"Where's breakfast? I'm starving!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Katara is usually the one to cook breakfast, and she isn't up yet. I made tea, however." Iroh said

"Thank you, but tea won't fill my stomach," Sokka replied.

"I don't smell breakfast! Where is sugar queen with breakfast?" Toph asked as she came downstairs to join Sokka and Suki.

"She's not up just yet," Suki said. "We should let her sleep in. She was pretty devastated yesterday by Zuko's news."

"It's no worry. We'll get twinkletoes out of there," Toph said as she slouched on the couch.

They all sat down and made small talk, being too lazy to make breakfast themselves.

That's when Zuko came downstairs.

"Hey, Zuko. Could you wake up Katara? We're starving here," Sokka complained.

"We have a problem," Zuko responded. Everyone sat up immediately to listen to him.

"I just went to Katara's room. She's not there," He continued.

Sokka had a really bad feeling. He quickly got up and rushed outside. After looking all around he walked back in with a frightened look.

"Appa is missing," He said.

"Oh no," Everyone else said together.

Sokka looked really disturbed and scared. "She couldn't have, could she?"

"I think she did," Suki answered.

"But… why? How could she?"

"She wasn't going to let us stop her. You know how she gets, Snoozles," Toph explained.

"Yip Yip, Appa!" Katara commanded the bison to go faster.

She had left around midnight. She had packed some extra clothes, gathered up some food, snuck out, and took off before anyone noticed her.

No one's going to stop me, she thought.

She knew that the others would've tried to stop her. They would try to convince her that they all should go together. Of course that would mean Sokka spending forever trying to come up with a plan, and having to camp out more because the extra body weight and supplies would slow down Appa. Katara didn't need backup, and she didn't need a plan. She already had a plan.

Get in, blast through anyone in her way, get Aang, and get out.

The others just didn't understand. This was something she had to do. This was her sworn duty; a vow that she had silently made to herself. She would always be there for Aang. She would always protect him. If anybody caused harm to Aang, she would make them regret it. If somebody wanted to take him away, they had to go through her first. Not even the Avatar was all-powerful. Even the Avatar needed protection, be it from himself or from others.

It was Aang's duty to protect the world. It was Katara's duty to protect Aang.

Katara's thoughts drifted again to what Aang could be going through right now. The very thought of him suffering and being put through torture made her blood boil. It enraged her. She didn't care if Azula had a thousand followers. She would go through all of them to rescue Aang.

May the spirits pity those who cross Katara.

Thanks for reading! Review please! Flames are welcome as well. They make my stories nice and toasty.