The lights of the Earth Kingdom twinkled millions of feet below the flying airship. Inside the airship Katara pressed a cheek against a small glass window and stared down at the lights. A sigh fell from her lips. Today marked the 5th anniversary of her marriage to the Fire Lord. She had wanted to spend an intimate evening with her husband. She had even had a special night gown created for the occasion. But no, her quiet evening had been dashed to pieces a few days earlier with the announcement that the King of Ba Sing Se had returned from his travels and had found himself a bride. They were to celebrate their marriage this very day and it was out of the question for Fire Lord Zuko to miss the festivities. If not the precarious alliance with the Earth Kingdom could be shattered. Katara snorted. Those old buffoons in the council would love that.
A scowl darkened her features. It wasn't Zuko's fault they were in this situation but it was already 7pm and he had yet to acknowledge what day it was. He wasn't THAT busy. She glanced at him now. He stood beside the navigator, the two of them deep in conversation. Zuko's robes were resplendent in red and gold. His hair was done in the style befitting his rank. His cheeks were smooth and Katara recalled the time he had tried to grow the beard that all the men of the Fire Nation seemed to sport. A slight smile touched his lips and Katara remembered how he had never smiled when they had first met.
Katara turned back to the window and her eyes caught sight of a light that seemed to burn brighter than the others. It took a moment for her to realize what it was. A fire. Moving to another window Katara realized with growing alarm that it was a large forest fire and that it was heading west. Directly towards a village. If they didn't do something....Katara tried not to think of all the lives that could be lost.
--
Zuko was deep in conversation when his wife strode towards them and stopped. She bowed before speaking. "My Lord...May I have a moment?" Katara's voice was husky and Zuko felt his heart skip a beat. Zuko waited for the navigator to bow respectfully to Katara before replying.
"My Lady, you may have all the moments you wish." He took her arm and moved her to a spot where they could speak privately. "What is it Katara?"
Her lips thinned and she said softly, "There's a forest fire spreading rapidly, headed straight for a village. I think we should stop and offer our assistance." Her blue eyes darkened and she gazed imploringly at him.
Zuko wanted nothing more than to say yes, to stop the ship, jump down, and help his wife battle the flames but as Fire Lord he had to get to this function on time. Damn the King of Ba Sing Se for choosing today. Taking her hand he squeezed it and said gently, "I'm sorry Katara but we can't stop now. I'm sure the village is equipped with the necessary things to stop a fire. And when we reach the palace I'll be sure to mention something to the people in charge of such things."
His wife narrowed her eyes and Zuko winced at the words that flew from her mouth. "These people don't have time to wait for us to get the palace. If you weren't so caught up in your Fire Lord duties you'd realize that." She yanked her hand away from him and stormed off. Ignoring the curious stares of the crew Zuko followed her rapidly. He was surprised when she didn't head to her rooms. Instead she turned left and head towards the hangers where the small glide crafts were located.
As Katara grabbed one and angrily pressed the button to exit the airship Zuko grabbed the handles of the glidecraft and snapped "What the hell are you trying to pull Katara?"
Katara glared at him and snapped back, "If you were the decent human being I thought you were you'd understand what I'm doing!" As the exit opened up she grabbed hold of the glide craft, threw it into reverse and allowed the craft to fly out of the hold. Zuko, who had been forced to let go or get dragged out, watched stunned as his wife glided in the direction of the flames.
--
As Katara glided towards the flames her anger slowly dissipated. In fact with the flames looming before her, Katara was forced to admit that she had made a foolish mistake. Miles of burning forest separated her from the village and now, glancing back at the airship, miles were going to separate her from her husband. Her heart tightened and tears threatened to spill down her cheeks.
The tears would have to wait. Angling her Glider Katara managed to land near a stream. The fire was not yet visible but ash floated down around her.
"So how are you planning on getting rid of the fire?"
Katara immediately turned and launched herself into Zuko's arms. He caught hold of her easily and after a brief moment of silence Katara murmured, "Forgive me for being such a fool..."
Zuko cracked a smile and replied, "You can hardly be a fool for caring about people but you could have planned this better." He pulled back from her and studied the advancing flames. "How were you planning to put this out?"
Stepping towards the stream Katara said simply, "The old fashioned way." Not wasting another moment Katara flowed into the graceful movements of waterbending. Watching her now Zuko was reminded of the first time he saw her waterbend. They had both been children but even then Zuko could appreciate the beauty of the movements. Katara moved in a circle and the water swirled around her before landing on the oncoming flames. They sizzled out but the couple could see it was going to take a lot more than a lone waterbender to put the fire out.
Grabbing Katara's hand Zuko pulled her away from the stream. "Come on Katara, we need to get out of here now." She nodded in agreement and but came to a stop near one of the Glide Crafts. "Should we try taking one of these?" The light of the flames flickered off of her skin and Zuko had to force himself to retake her hand and keep moving.
"We don't have time to try and--what the!!!" Zuko's statement ended when he found himself being lifted off the ground. Katara squealed and being in a similar state dropped his hand. The two of them struggled against the invisible bonds only to be spun around twice and have the world go black.
---
"Are they alive...?" The soft male voice wrapped itself around Katara's consciousness and brought her to the world of the living. With a small groan she opened her eyes and found herself looking up into face a dark skinned male. His brown eyes filled with relief and a smile touched the corners of his lips.
"Who...who are you?" Katara sat up and moved closer to Zuko's unconscious body touching it protectively with her left hand. She glanced around and saw several other people standing nearby. They all seemed to be wearing some type of strange clothing. One, a young boy of about 12 smiled at her and Katara felt some of her uneasiness dissipate.
The dark skinnned man, boy really now that she could see him completely, said in a accented voice, "My name is Kawame and I am the leader of the planeteers; Linka, Ma-Ti, and Gi." He paused to point them out. "Gaia brought you here to help us."
Katara's eyes narrowed. "I've never heard of planateers...and who's Gaia? Do you know who we are? You'll be in a whole lot of trouble for kidnapping us."
The blonde one, Linka, folded her arms across her chest and scoffed at Katara's words. "Kidnap you? How funny, Gaia rescues you and you call it a kidnapping." Linka lifted her chin proudly. "We don't need their he..." Her voice trailed off with one stern look from Gaia, stately woman who wore a simple purple gown. Her dark hair swirled around her face and when her blue eyes met Katara's the Fire Lord's wife felt as though she knew her from somewhere.
Gaia spoke quietly, "That's enough Linka. Katara has every right to be frightened...Zuko shall wake in a moment and when he does I shall explain the situation."
Linka nodded ruefully and took a step back. The moment she did Zuko stirred...
--
"...So you're telling me that you kidnapped us so that we could help you get back your two members? Why us?" Zuko stared down at the teenagers and strange woman. He shifted so that Katara was slightly behind him. No way in hell were these freaks were going to hurt her.
The woman, Gaia, said softly, "Only people in control of water and fire can save these two. You have my word that I will return you once you aid us."
Zuko scowled and opened his mouth to protest but Katara placed a hand on his sleeve and stepped forward.
"We would love to help you...what needs to be done?"
--
In another section of the town an angry red headed teen kicked the wall of cell he was in. "Damn it! If we had our rings we wouldn't be in this mess!"
Another teen, a dark haired female, sighed. "Well we don't Wheeler. We just have to trust that the others will come for us before its too late."
"Eh....I guess your right Gi..." Wheeler slumped down beside her. "My only question is...how will they get us out of here?"
Gi nodded in agreement and studied their surroundings. The two of them were seated in a see through Air tight chamber that rested at the bottom of a deep tank full of water. As to where they were exactly Gi had no idea. She and Wheeler had someone gotten separated from the rest of the group during an attack from Dr. Blight. Before they could defend themselves they had been attacked by cronies of the doctor. When Gi and Wheeler had awoken they were in the cell/chamber and ringless. Even if they could someone open up door they'd drown within minutes.
The young girl hugged her knees tightly against her chest and tried to think positively..
--
Meanwhile the planateers with their two guest members were battling their way through Dr. Blight's current fortress. All too soon the group found themselves inside the main room.
"So I'm guessing this is where that lady brought your friends." Zuko glanced around the room and took in a giant machine in one corner and a strange pool of water that separated them from another door.
Kwame nodded in agreement. "Yes, this is the last room in the building. Only where are they?"
"...I think they're down there, look!!" Katara stood in front of the pool and pointed down. The others gathered around her. Down at the bottom they could make out a large box with two people inside of it. Katara smiled at the planateers. "Don't worry, I'll have them free in a minute!" She lifted her arms and the water began to rise several feet in the air.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" The husky female voice came from behind them. The group whipped around and came face to face with Dr. Blight. Dr. Blight wore her customary pink jump suit with the utility belt strung low on her waist. Her blonde hair hung over her face and Zuko was reminded of Azula when the doctors blue eyes touched his. Her lips curled into a feral smile. "Well if that isn't cute. You've already replaced your little friends. Pity they don't have these."
Dr. Blight lifted her right hand and the group were stunned to see the fire and water rings. At the look of shock on their faces the evil woman laughed. "That's right! I have the rings now. Why don't I take them for a test run?! FIRE!!!!" She punched her fist forward and flames shot out from the ring towards the planateers.
Zuko stepped forward and and easily diverted the fire. "You call those flames? Let me show you what fire really looks like." The Fire Lord pushed back the sleeves of his robes and fire encompassed his arms. With ease he moved into the steps of a simple firebending form. Dr. Blight's eye widened as a the fire from Zuko hit her. She flew back into the door and slumped to the floor unconscious and singed.
Kwame collected the rings from he doctors limp hand as Katara easily bended the water out of the pool. When Wheeler and Gi were safely out of the chamber Zuko placed an arm around Katara's shoulder and said softly in her ear, "As soon as we get back home I'm taking you straight to our rooms. All this adventuring has worked up an...appetite."
Katara's face turned bright red and she smacked his arm. "Zuko! We're in public" Her words were softened by the small smile gracing her lips.
Zuko frowed at her. "I don't care anymore. I just want to spend the rest of this evening with with my wife celebrating our anniversary."
"And so you shall." Gaia's soft voice surrounded them. A moment later Zuko and Katara faded from the planateers vision.
--
The lights of the Earth Kingdom twinkled millions of feet below the flying airship. Inside the airship Katara awoke with a start. She was standing at the window and was surprised to find that she had fallen asleep with her cheek pressed against it. Covering a yawn she turned to see her husband the Fire Lord Zuko watching her from where he stood talking to the ship's navigator. He excused himself from the navigator and strode over to her.
"Are you alright Katara? You knocked out for several minutes." Zuko's hand found hers and he gave it a squeeze.
Katara smiled up at her husband. "I'm fine Zuko...I must have been really tired. I even had a strange dream."
Zuko pulled her away from the window and led her towards the center of the airship. "You'll have to wait till later to tell me about it. We're about to land."
The young woman blinked in surprise and allowed herself to be prepared for landing. They should have at least another of flight left before landing. What was going on? Katara cast a curious glance at her husband but he was busy looking else where.
The landing went smoothly. Zuko grabbed Katara's hand and pulled her out of the airship. "This way."
"Zuko what on earth is go...."Katara's question faded when she found herself standing in a small clearing beside a river. The clearing had been prepared to look like one of the gardens she had admired several months back. It was beautiful.
It took a moment for her to find her voice. "Z-Zuko it's beautiful! But what about the Earth King's celebration?"
Zuko touched her face gently. "Don't worry about the Earth King. It's all been taken care of....Katara..."He paused to pull her against him. "Happy anniversary."
Before she could reply her lips were happily occupied.
THE END