xXx Chapter 2 xXx
xXx The Breakup xXx
Her nails dug into the wood of the old door, "How do you know me?"
She could see him tilt his head in the dark, "Azula told me of the Water Tribe peasant girl."
Her nails dug deeper into the wood at the 'peasant' remark, "My name is Katara, not peasant girl." She glared at him through the darkness, her voice vehemently echoing off the walls.
He chuckled at her little outburst, "So, what is it you want...Katara the Waterbender?"
There was no real curiosity in his voice, just the willingness to humor her.
The way he said her name made her cringe back a bit. Then a slight blush covered her face since she didn't have an answer for him. She tapped her fingers on the door, trying to pull an answer out of thin air.
"Well?" Irritation tainted his voice.
She flinched, his voice was so cold and demanding, "Well...I was just walking around...and I ended up here." She mumbled more than half of her statement.
He let out another amused laugh, "You were walking outside, in the middle of the night, in the rain? You also managed to end up here?"
Her blush intensified, she would give anything to not be here. Thankfully, he gave her the chance to leave.
"If you don't have anything to say, perhaps you should leave." she could hear the smirk in his voice, "The guards here do slack off, but it won't be long until someone finds you." any interest that he had before was now gone.
She didn't waste any time and immediately moved away from the door and started down the hallway. His voice made her stop in her tracks, "Goodbye, Katara the Waterbender."
She flinched again as he said her name. His voice was so bitter, and every word he had said seemed to be laced with sarcasm. She thought the way Zuko use to talk to her made her feel insignificant, but now it seemed like nothing. She refused to reply to him, so she began walking once more. She made each and every turn like she knew exactly where she was going. She smiled to herself since she was getting good at finding her way through all the 'mazes' on this island. All her problems disappeared for one moment as she found the rusted double doors of the prison.
The doors were heavy, and she had to put all her body weight on it to force it open. Once outside, she had to do the same thing, and it closed with a bang. Still, the guard slept soundly. She faintly wondered if the guards had been this incompetent when Ozai was in power. That thought soon passed because it didn't seem likely. She took a deep breath as she looked out at the stormy sky. She really wished she hadn't left the palace. Deciding she couldn't stay there any longer, she pushed herself off the door and ran off.
She ran blindly through the darkness, somehow keeping her balance through all the rocks and tree branches that littered the ground. The rain was so cold that it stung her face, and the wind wasn't being too kind either. Without warning, she tripped over a tree branch and fell to the wet ground with a thud. Just to make her day worse, she had to be on a slope, so she continued to fall. She closed her eyes and covered her face with her arms. It was over before she could do anything else. Slowly, she opened her eyes and rose to her feet, she was relived to find that she wasn't hurt badly enough to hinder her walking.
Still, a frown crossed her face when she saw that she was covered from head to foot in mud. With a defeated sigh, she continued on her way toward the palace. As she snuck back into the palace, she prayed that no one would see her. Before she had entered, she had tried to wipe some of the mud off of her. For the most part it worked; at least she wasn't tracking mud on the pretty palace floors. She kept close to the wall, wishing she could blend in with it. Her feet seemed to carry her through the hall, and she only hoped they were taking her to the right place. After all, she found her way out of the prison, why should this be any different?
Her heart lifted as she saw the door to her room. She had painted the symbol on her necklace on the door a long time ago. It was the only way she could find her room. She quickly opened the door and scurried inside. After closing the door she immediately went to the bathroom and started the shower. Peeling off her soaked clothes gave her some relief from her stressful day. She didn't waste any time stepping into the shower, even though the water was still a little cold. Slowly, she started to wash the mud off of her body. Soon, she realized that she was rubbing the cloth so harshly that her delicate skin turned red. She threw the cloth to the floor in frustration as hot tears threatened to slip from her eyes.
One part of her was furious at the idea of Aang cheating on her, the other part refused to believe that he would. Her head was killing her, and it only intensified when she thought about her encounter with Ozai. She decided that her problem with Aang was more important. After all, there was no real problem with Ozai, why should she even be concerned? No, it didn't matter at all. It wasn't as if he threatened her. Sighing, she got out of the shower, now that she wasn't covered with mud. She dreaded facing Aang, but she knew it had to be done.
Quickly, she got dressed and stepped out into her room. Remembering the cold and rain outside, she grabbed her coat. She doubted she would be going outside again, but better safe than sorry. She opened her bedroom door and was surprised to see Zuko with his fist raised in the air to knock on the door. He quickly dropped his hand and cleared his throat.
"Katara... um." He looked down at her with a look of pity and uncertainty.
She tried not to glare at him, but her face refused to form a smile, "Well? What did Aang say?" It came out more harshly than she had intended.
Zuko's expression became more troubled, "Aang asked me to bring you to him...I don't know if I should say anything..." He spoke very slowly; she could tell that he would rather be anywhere but here.
She sighed and knew she shouldn't be taking out her anger on him, "...Okay, just take me to him. I'm sorry you got wrapped up in this."
Zuko let out a sigh of relief. He motioned for her to follow him without a word. They continued to walk in silence, which gave her time to think. Time to become annoyed. Why did she have to go to Aang? He was the one that was in trouble, he should be coming to her with flowers and chocolates. No matter how cliché chocolate and flowers were. She wanted to ask Zuko how Aang could have the audacity to make her go to him, but she didn't want to make him more unconformable than he already was.
She wasn't sure if she wanted to tell Aang off, or give him time to explain. Her face heated up with anger as she dwelled on it more and more. She was starting to wish she had stayed at the prison now. She felt too angry to speak to Aang. Why did he have to do this? What happened to the 'modest monk' routine? He was certainly modest with her. Of all the years she had been with him, he had never tried to push things further. Perhaps it was because she never brought it up... maybe the other girl did. Her stomach instantly sank. How could she jump to such drastic conclusions? Aang would not do that to her. Would he? She gave a sideways glance to Zuko.
"Zuko, have you... slept with-."
"Katara!" Zuko turned to her, his face bright red, "Look, I don't think Aang would-."
"Wait..." Katara cut him off before he could finish, "You talked to Aang before coming to get me. You should know if he has done anything." She gave him a stern look.
Zuko's face remained red, "I think this is something you should talk about with Aang. Not me."
She stopped walking and tried to stare him down, even though he was still taller than her, "Zuko, I thought you were my friend. If you know something, you should tell me." It made her sick to play the guilt card on Zuko.
Some of the color drained from his face, "We are friends," his voice sounded hurt, which hurt her, "Aang is my friend too. I just think that I shouldn't get involved."
She couldn't blame him for that. As they walked, she realized that Zuko's pace was slowing. She thought it was odd since he never did that. Then, he suddenly stopped. She came to a halt a few feet in front of him.
"What's wrong, Zuko?"
He ran a hand through his raven hair, "Katara, Aang is going to... that girl, she." He stopped and took a deep breath.
She waited for him to continue, but he didn't, "Zuko, is he going to break up with me?"
He sighed, "You're my friend, and I think Aang is wrong. He is going to end it, but I think you should do it first. I think he's taking all of this too lightly. He doesn't seem to be considering your feelings. Perhaps it would do him some good to feel the pain of a break up."
She let a small laugh, "Wow, Zuko. I didn't know you could still put together such a deceiving plan." Her mood lifted as she joked with Zuko.
He smiled and laughed a bit too, "I'm just trying to teach him a lesson. As a friend, of course. Oh, and were here."
He pointed to a large door at least fifteen feet away. She gave him a small smile before heading toward it. As she walked, she could hear Zuko's footsteps growing fainter. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door to the garden. Now he remembers the garden. She looked around her to see that it had stopped raining, but it was still wet outside. She didn't have to walk far to find him. He was standing at the edge of the pond, and he turned and looked at her.
"Katara, I need to talk to you about something." He spoke with a light tone, it made her face heat up again.
"Yeah, so do I." Her voice was cold.
He didn't seem to take mind to her tone of voice, "Katara, I think that we should-."
"I'll safe you the trouble, Aang, it's over." A sob broke through her voice, and she cursed herself for it.
"Zuko told you." He wasn't asking a question, just simply stating a fact.
"Don't be mad at him, he tried his best to stay out if it." She turned her back to him and started walking away, "Oh, and one more thing."
She flipped her hand in the air, and water from the pond washed over him. She sent another wave at him, and this time, some of it froze on his legs. She glared at him as he fell backwards, a look of pure shock on his face. He easily freed his legs from the ice, but she stormed out the door before he could say anything. As she stomped down the hall, she wiped the hot tears away from her eyes.
She looked down at the coat she was clutching in her hand. She needed some fresh air, to once again be out of the palace. She harshly wrapped her coat around her body and jerked the hood up as she stomped out of the palace. She looked up at the rocky land that hid the prison. For some reason, she wanted to go back. Why on earth would she want to go back? It was filled with horrible people, people she wanted nothing to do with. She wanted nothing to do with Ozai. He wouldn't want anything to do with her. As she came back from her thoughts, she was shocked to realize that she was walking toward the prison. For whatever reason, she didn't stop. Something told her that she needed to go back.
Love, hugs, and fireflakes to all who review!
