Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender of any of the characters, so please do not sue me!
Thanks for the comments! Here's chapter 2. I hope you like it.
(On With The Story!)
Zuko's eyes slowly opened as the blurriness in his vision became crystal-clear. He looked around the room and wondered where the hell he was. "What the fuck happened?" Zuko growled as he tried to sit up but his tired body wasn't quite ready for that task and he fell back onto the soft bed again. Zuko closed his eyes feeling an aching and throbbing pain on his leg still.
"Oh damn…" Zuko hissed as he tried once again to get up. He succeeded this time as he threw his legs over the bed. It was still a little dark and he bent a small flame to get some more light in the room. He looked to a window and seen the dark black sky knowing it was still night. "Where the hell?" Zuko groaned as he painfully stood to his feet.
(Katara's Bedroom)
Katara sighed deeply as she pulled her legs to her chest and hugged them. She was scared as heck and was willing to give anything to get back home. She felt desperate. She wanted someone to talk to before she went insane. She felt alone in this. She was in a strange world and time that she knew nothing about and was scared to know she might never make it back.
"I have to see Zuko." Katara decided before she stood to her feet and quietly made her way downstairs trying her hardest not to wake the elderly woman or her strange creature. Katara seen a light she recognized as fire glowing dimly at the bottom left of the stairs. "Zuko." Katara said before she silently went down the stairs.
Zuko walked around the strange place not knowing where the hell he was. He heard footsteps behind him and softly turned around posed to attack when he seen the startled waterbender breathing heavily putting her hands up in surrender. "You…" Zuko growled before igniting more fire in his hands.
"Stop…" Katara whispered as she shook her head.
"What the hell did you do!?" He shouted.
"Shh!" Katara hushed as she put her finger over her lips.
"Why should I?" he asked.
"I need to talk to you. And I want to tell you that I didn't do this! Wait… Why the heck are you even standing up? You're hurt!" Katara said as she walked over to him.
"I'm fine, alright?" Zuko growled.
"Please let me help you! You're so stubborn!" Katara shouted.
"What's going on!?" Marianne shouted as she stood at the top of the stairs but accidentally tripped over her small companion and came flying over the edge and heading to her doom at the bottom of the stairs. Katara gasped harshly wanting to do something but her body wouldn't move.
Zuko quickly ran to the end of the stairs calculating where she would fall and caught her easily in his strong arms. "Oh my…" Marianne whispered seeing how his young man even with his injury was able to show such amazing speed, agility, and strength.
"Oh, thank Heavens…" Katara breathed in relief as Zuko let her down easily.
"Thank you, young man… You saved my life…" she breathed deeply as she tried to relax once again.
"Whatever." Zuko replied in his normal sarcastic tone.
Katara almost wanted to cry. She never thought Zuko would care about anyone else beside himself… "Here, you should be in bed. Now, come on." She said motioning to Zuko who rolled his eyes, but followed knowing that this lady was kind enough to take care of him. After Zuko sat on the bed, he pulled his leg up and removed the bandages that were soaked in blood.
"Want me to get another bandage?" Katara asked as she walked into the room.
"That'll be great, Katara." Marianne said with a smile on her face as she tossed the bloody bandage into a trash a few feet away. "Does it hurt?" Marianne asked the Prince as she looked up into his unique golden eyes.
"Not really." Zuko replied in a dry tone.
"You have really pretty eyes… I never thought golden eyes existed…" Marianne said in wonder as the continued to look into them. She felt the coldness in the depths of gold and knew this young teen was very powerful.
Zuko didn't reply. He just sighed deeply before leaning back slightly on the bed with his arms holding him up. "Here we go." Katara said as she walked back into the room with the white kit. After handing it to Marianne who took out a bandage, Katara went to g put it back.
"What year is it?" Zuko asked coolly.
"Year? You don't even know the year?" Marianne asked wondering if these teens had been living under a rock their whole life. "It's 2006." Marianne said after realizing Zuko wasn't going to answer.
"2006? A.D?" Zuko asked again.
"Yes, that's right." Marianne replied.
'It can't be…' Zuko thought as he let his head hang slightly knowing they were about 1,800 years in the future.
After Marianne finished applying the new bandage, she stood up. "So, you guys hungry?" she asked knowing it was still very early, but they had had a long night.
"Yeah." Katara replied happily. Marianne smiled and left the room with Katara following close behind. "Well, come on, Zuko." Katara said as she looked back over her shoulder at the firebending Prince. Katara looked at him and seen his head still downcast and he continued not to answer her. "Zuko?" she asked walking over to him and sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Do you know it's 2006 A.D.?" Zuko asked the waterbender.
"What?" Katara asked in a shocked voice.
"You have to tell me everything that happened! We have to get back!" Zuko said in a determined voice as he stood to his feet.
"Yeah, I know, but how?" Katara replied in a doubtful voice.
"We'll find a way! We just have to get out of here! There has to be something we can do to change what happened." Zuko said.
"But…" Katara said trying to talk some sense.
"What are you two doing? Come on!" Marianne said cheerfully when Zuko was about to band fire angrily.
"Don't!" Katara shouted as she threw her hands over his. "We can't go any bending here!"
"Why the hell not?" Zuko growled.
"I doubt it's a way of defense anymore! It's how many years in the future?" Katara said trying to change the Prince's mind of being his normal hotheaded self.
"Fine, but you better promise that by sunrise, we're leaving!" Zuko tried to compromise.
"Sunrise? But Zuko, we have to figure out what exactly to do and where on earth to go so we can get back! We can't just leave without knowing anything about this time!" Katara replied.
"Damn, alright! One week!" Zuko growled.
"Well…" Katara said thinking about what he just told her. "Okay, at least that's more time." She continued getting up. "Come on." She said handing her hand to him.
"I can get up fine on my own." Zuko growled before standing to his feet and tried to hide that it really hurt to do so. After they followed the elderly woman into the spacious kitchen, Katara looked around at the beautiful wallpaper, stoves, microwave, and other appliances she had never seen before.
Zuko sat down at the table as she ground his teeth waiting for the pain to subside. "You alright, young man?" Marianne asked from the stove she was cooking at.
"I'm fine." Zuko mumbled back before leaning back and crossing his arms.
"Do you think we should take him to the hospital?" Marianne whispered to Katara.
"What's a hospital?" Katara asked.
"It's a place with doctors that help you if something is wrong with you and they make it better." Marianne said as if she was explaining to a child.
"Oh." Katara said surprised that healers were around anymore either.
"Looks like your methods are outdated too." Zuko said to the waterbender as he gave a slight smirk.
"Shut up." Katara said in a hushed voice in a reply to the Prince.
"Well, it's ready." Marianne said cheerfully as she ladled some hot broth into 2 bowls and laid them in front of them. "This will warm you up and it'll help you two calm down and get right to bed so you can get up for school tomorrow."
"School?" Katara asked in a shocked voice as she almost spewed out the broth.
"Why yes! Everyone your age has to go to school." Marianne replied as she laid some saltines on the table.
"What is school?" Katara asked wondering if it was anything like having to be taught waterbending.
"School is basically learning history, mathematics, science, proper grammar, chemistry, geography, and learning social skills." Marianne explained. Katara stared at the woman chocked as Zuko shook his head knowing that Katara should have just listened to him and they wouldn't have to deal with all this hell. "Oh, and I'll go get you some crutches until your leg heals." Marianne continued knowing Zuko would have a time doing all that walking without something to help him along.
Marianne left to go back to bed after a few minutes as Katara finished the broth while her thoughts flew all over the place. Zuko sighed deeply hating the taste of the stuff after the first bite. "Well, good night." Zuko said as he left the room. Katara knew she should have listened to him and actually hated the fact that he was right…
(To Be Continued…)