It was the first time they'd ever lost to Zuko. They hadn't even underestimated him, no matter how many times they were able to ward him off before they knew he and the Fire Nation in general were a major threat anyway.

He'd gotten lucky this time, Katara decided. Or smarter. Setting fire to their campsite when he knew they weren't close enough to a ready supply of water for bending, cornering them in an unfamiliar forest, his smokescreen...by the time it was over, Aang and Katara were fleeing on Appa while Zuko made off with an unconscious Sokka.

"At least they won't come back," Katara said. "We'll have to track them down and rescue Sokka tomorrow, okay?"

Aang didn't answer, he didn't even look at her.

"Aang?" she prompted. "It's going to be fine. Zuko won this round, but-"

"They took Sokka," he said. "They took Sokka and it's all my fault."

"W-what?" She shook her head, gently grabbing his shoulders. "Aang, don't be ridiculous! How could it be your fault, Zuko's the one who attacked us and tricked us into the forest, he used a smokescreen. And he had all those soldiers backing him up, we were outnumbered."

"So? That's never stopped us before," Aang said, his voice breaking. "No, Katara, I...I got us into this mess, I was so worried about Appa being tired that I didn't think, I just wanted to stop and rest and because I was so selfish-"

She tightened her grip on him, forcing him to turn around and face her. Tears ran down his cheeks even as he made the effort to stop them and he was shaking visibly.

"Stop it," she said, "remember, we all thought we'd be safe here because no one knew about it. You didn't know Zuko was following us. We didn't anticipate being ambushed." She brought her hands up to wipe away his tears. "It wasn't anyone's fault except Zuko's."

He shook his head, forcing his gaze downward.

"They took Sokka," he repeated.

"Aang..." She pulled him into her arms. "I'm scared for him, too, and I wish I'd tried to stop them, or at least gone after them when we could see again. But blaming myself isn't going to fix anything, and neither is you blaming yourself. I don't hold it against you, and neither will Sokka."

"Of course he will. He's never liked me," Aang mumbled against her shoulder. "He resents having to go along with me."

"Oh, Sokka always complains when things don't go according to his carefully planned life," Katara said. "It's nothing to do with you. He likes you, Aang, he just doesn't want to admit it because then he'd have to admit he likes having his plans thrown out of whack a little."

"Well, even if he likes me, I bet he doesn't trust me anymore," Aang said. "I'm surprised you still trust me even after all the trouble I've caused."

Katara tightened her arms around him, resting her forehead against his.

"I've had faith in you ever since you let Zuko capture you to save my village," she said. "And I'll always trust you."

"Because I'm the Avatar, right?"

"No." She smiled, pulling back slightly to look into his eyes. "Because you're Aang."

"Katara..." A wave of fresh tears overcame him, but he was smiling a little.

"It's going to be okay," she said, "we'll find Sokka and get even with Zuko. But right now, we need to get some sleep, okay?"

They bundled into her sleeping bag and let the quiet sounds of the night soothe their nerves.