Karstin Hale Story! Yay me!! Eeheheheh!Slurp!S
Katara opened her eyes and yawned. She and her friends had arrived in Ba Sing Say the previous morning. Sokka, Katara's brother was munching on some rice. Aang was curled up in a ball with Momo on his mat. Toph slept soundly in the bedroom.
"Sokka, I think we should explore the city today," Katara said, happy, as usual.
"Yaw, sure, but I bet Toph won't be up for it…" Sokka groaned back. He was most always cranky in the mornings. Katara went into the back bedroom and woke up Toph.
"Toph, you have to get up. We have to explore the city today."
"What time is it?" Toph asked, half asleep.
"About 4 hours after sunrise"
"You woke me up for that?" Toph shut her eyes and shortly she was asleep again.
Katara sighed. With Toph, this was a daily ritual. She went to the living room and gently shook Aang to wake him up.
"Must find Apa…" Aang groaned. Apa was Aang's flying bison. Right now, Apa had been stolen by some sand-benders. Toph had tried to stop them, but it was no use.
"It's okay Aang. We will someday." Aang sat up and squinted. The sun shone brightly outside.
"So, what are we going to do today?" Aang asked excitedly.
"Katara wants to explore the city." Sokka said.
"Sounds awesome," replied Aang, "where's Toph?"
"I can't get her up."
Aang stood up, walked into the room, and bended some cold water into Toph's face. Then he blasted her with wind. Toph slowly stood up.
"WHAT?" She yelled.
"We are going to explore the city!" Aang told her. Toph just sighed and walked outside.
"Is the sky clear?" she asked. Toph was blind, so she usually asked questions like this.
"Yes Toph, you ask that every day!" Sokka told her.
"It's not her fault she's blind," Aang joked back. Toph just stood there. Katara quickly scrambled some eggs for breakfast. When they were finished, the crew started down the road. After about ten minutes of walking, they saw a tea shop. The sign said, 'The Jasmine Dragon'
"I wonder if they have good tea." Sokka questioned.
"Lets find out," Aang said, and held the door open for his friends. The tea shop was nice. There were little tables, and a waiter serving the people. They found a table, and sat down.
Meanwhile…
"Prince Zuko, I think that I like living a normal life. Why don't we just make our lives happen here at this tea shop?"
"Uncle, I really want to catch the avatar. Think of how proud Azula and my father will be."
"Is it really worth it? Giving up this life of peace, this life of not having to run away, and not having to hide in the shadows? Do you want to give this entire life up just to make your father proud?
"I'm not sure. I think about it," Zuko replied.
"Well, the customers are waiting!" Iroh said! Uncle Iroh and Prince Zuko were fire benders in hiding. For years, Zuko has been searching for the avatar in order to make his father proud. Now, they work in a small tea shop in Ba Sing Say, which is also where Aang, the avatar is living. When Zuko stepped out from the counter, he saw something he would never expect to see.
"Uncle! The avatar and his friends are here!"
"Remember, life of peace, no more hiding…"
"If I could capture him my father would be so proud!"
"Just because your father wants it does not make it right," Iroh said. Zuko sighed. He didn't want Aang to recognize him, so he put on a black hood.
Sokka waved his hand in the air rapidly, "waiter, over here!" A waiter in a black hood came to their table.
"How may I help you?" To Aang, the voice sounded strangely familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"Yes, we'd like four cups of Jasmine tea. No sweetener on the fourth," Katara smiled at Toph.
"Doesn't that voice sound familiar?" Aang whispered. Katara shushed him. "Have we met before?" Aang asked the waiter.
"Uhh…no," the waiter replied, and dashed back behind the counter.
"Uncle, I was almost revealed! Can't I just capture him?"
"The cards are in your play, not mine," Iroh smiled. Zuko hated it when his uncle did things like that. He wanted help, not a stupid saying. When Zuko went back out to deliver their tea, he wore the hood again. He just couldn't face Aang. It wasn't right.
"Your tea," he placed it on the table. He started back, but Aang got in front of him.
"I know we have met before!" With a blast of air, Aang blew of Zuko's hood. When he saw who it was, he just stood there, mouth agape.
"ZUKO?" Sokka yelled. Sokka wasn't one of Zuko's biggest fans. Well, not many people were. Aang got into a fighting stance.
"Don't worry; I am not going to fight you. I want to live a life of peace here in Ba Sing Say," Zuko never expected himself to say that. Iroh had been watching from the back, and he smiled contently.
"How did you find us?" Katara asked.
"I had no idea you were here. We came to Ba Sing Say because we had thought that life would be peaceful here. I guess we were right. My uncle and I were sick and tired of hiding and hunting."
"Wow. Well at least we don't have to live a life of running away from anyone, except Azula," Toph said.
"Princess Azula," Zuko said.
"Its not like anyone likes her anyways," Toph said back.
"Well, I should go," Zuko said, and walked back behind the counter.
"That's really weird that Zuko didn't want to attack us," Sokka said.
"He's definitely up to something," Katara agreed.
Katara and her friends decided to leave the teashop, and just go home instead of exploring. For Aang, having Zuko in the same town as him was awkward. Aang still didn't trust Zuko, so he was always ready for fire nation to come. A few days past, and Katara had a weird feeling. She knew she shouldn't trust Zuko, but she did. It was the most awkward thing because her friends still didn't like him. Katara decided she should go back to the tea shop and try to talk to Zuko. When she came in, the tea shop was empty.
"Hello? Zuko? Iroh?" Katara's voice echoed through the shop. Where could they have gone…Katara wondered. She went back behind the counter and saw two pieces of paper. One said:
PRINCE ZUKO-wanted! Reward-1000 dollars!!
The other said
Iroh-wanted! Reward 500 dollars!
"I guess this means he was captured by the bounty hunters," Katara said to herself. Katara felt a little relieved to have Zuko gone, but she still felt sad. She decided to go for a walk. She walked in the direction of the fountain. When she got there she sat by the edge.
"Why do I care so much that Zuko is gone?" Katara asked herself, "Its not like we were friends or anything…" She flicked a coin into the fountain, but before it landed, a hand caught it. Katara looked up.
"Zuko!" She yelled.
"Katara, I can only stay for a few minutes. I've been captured by the bounty hunters. I only have a few minutes to talk to you."
"I'm sorry," Katara replied. She couldn't look into his eyes.
"I wanted to give this to you," Zuko handed Katara the most beautiful red necklace. As Katara looked at it more closely, she realized that the necklace had the fire nations' sign on it.
"I can't take this," Katara said sadly and handed back to Zuko.
"You don't have to show Aang or Sokka. This can be our little secret," Zuko smiled. Katara couldn't force herself to smile back, so she just looked at him, into his fiery eyes.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Katara got up. She wondered if she should hug him. Zuko just grinned. Katara started to walk away, but Zuko stopped her.
"Wait! Katara, I was hoping, maybe, we could run away. None of us are really happy with our life-style, so maybe, it's for the best."
" I am fine with my life style! What about my brother, what about Aang and Toph? I couldn't bear to leave them!" Katara cried.
"They'll be fine on their own. By ourselves, we won't have any worries!"
"I don't know…I just couldn't betray Aang…we promised to stay together forever. You can run away by yourself. Hmmmff." Katara walked away. Her head told her she had made the right decision, but her heart told her to follow Zuko. Gran Gran had always told her to follow her heart, so she ran back to Zuko.
"Okay, I'll go!" Katara hugged Zuko.
"We should leave Ba Sing Say." Zuko told Katara, and they started off on their journey.
Later that night…
"Okay, where is Katara? She's been gone all day!!" Sokka paced the room.
"She's probably at the market," Toph sighed.
"It doesn't take 12 hours to get a few things at the market!" Sokka yelled.
"yes, that is a little weird…" Aang replied, "but Katara would never betray us."
The next morning Aang found a note outside the front door. He read it:
Dear Aang, Sokka, and Toph,
I know this is going to sound weird, but I ran away with Zuko. Gran Gran always told me to follow my heart, and I did. Don't bother looking for me because we are going somewhere far away. I love you guys and will miss you, but I feel like I did the right thing. I am so sorry. You guys will still be able to save the world without me. Good luck. I hope you guys will never forget me, because I won't forget you, ever.
-Katara
"WHAT??" Aang started to cry. As Sokka read the letter, a tear dripped down his cheek too. They told Toph, and she sighed. "How could Katara do that?" Aang sobbed. "She promised that we would be together forever!"
"I guess we just have to continue our journey without Katara," Sokka said glumly.
"No!" Aang declared. "We are going to look for Katara!"
"That would slow us down a lot though!" Sokka replied.
"Oh well…its not like we're making much progress anyways," Toph said.
"Fine Aang, you get your stupid way…" Sokka said, "I care about Katara too, it's just that she obviously likes Zuko more than us. It was her choice."
"How do you know Zuko didn't capture her?" Aang griped.
"Okay already, I said we were going…" Sokka mumbled. "We'll set off first thing tomorrow."
"So where do you want to go?" Zuko smiled at Katara.
"Zuko, I feel really bad about leaving Aang," she tried to smile back. She stuck a stick in the blazing fire that Zuko had set.
"Don't worry. You'll feel better once we start the journey."
"I don't want to live in hiding!" Katara cried. "I want a life of freedom!"
"This is as close to freedom as you can get," Zuko told her.
"No, it is not! I was freer with my friends," Katara said.
"No one is forcing you to stay," Zuko looked down at the fire, and it only brought sad memories; memories of his father.
"Then maybe I'll go!" Katara was really stuck between the two paths. She knew going with her friends would be the right thing, but she wanted to stay with Zuko; he made her feel good. Her conscience screamed at her to go back, so she decided she should just go back to Aang, Sokka, and Toph.
"Zuko, walk me back to Ba Sing Say!"
"Why are you leaving? I thought we were friends."
"We are friends, but going with you just didn't feel right," Katara sighed. Its not that she didn't trust Zuko, it just felt wrong to ditch her friends and go off with the enemy. As they walked back, Katara didn't say anything. When they got back to Ba Sing Say, Katara looked up at Zuko.
"Bye. I'll see you around, I guess," she said.
"I'll miss you," Zuko said, and hugged her. Katara broke away and ran, as a single tear slid down her cheek.
It had been hours since Aang and the crew had started looking for Katara.
"Now would be a good time to say, 'oh, its no use, we're out of luck…it's hopeless,'" Sokka said. They had been walking for a long time.
"Ya, I agree," Toph said. Aang just groaned and turned back towards home. When they arrived, they saw a figure sitting on the porch. It was Katara. Aang ran towards her, but then stopped when he saw the angry, disturbed look in her eyes. Aang had never seen Katara like this.
"Katara? Hello?" Aang waved his hand in front of her face.
"Oh hey," Katara mumbled. "I am glad to be back…where I belong…"
"Dude, take a chill pill!" Toph groaned. Katara never acted like this, unless she was really concerned. Katara sapped out of her mood.
"Oh! I kinda left with Zuko, but now I have realized that here is where I belong," Katara said, although it was only part way true. She forced a smile. Sokka sighed, and Toph rolled her eyes.
"puh-leez…we all know you want to run off with Zuko," Toph stated the obvious.
"Listen, I like Zuko, but he's only a friend," Katara said.
"Why would you even consider running away?" Sokka asked.
"I guess it just felt right at the time. I just followed my heart." When Katara said this Aang's face turned from sympathy to jealousy.
"What do you mean, following your heart?" He yelled at her. "You love Zuko?"
"No…er…I never said that. He can just relate to me I guess."