A/N: If you've made it even this far, I thank you greatly :D And please: Don't forget to review!
DISCLAIMER: I sadly don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender :( . Oh well . *sighs* That's why there's fanfiction, and fan art, and fan videos... ;)
****EDIT 12/17/12**** Hey, guys! I'm glad I'm not a mother yet, because if this was my baby, I'd be considered a neglectful parent. I'm going through the chapters that are thus far published, and I think now that I have high school (mostly) under control, now that I'm almost done with it, I'll actually try to update this story on a regular basis. I haven't given up yet! :)
The trio was staying in a forest, just a few days after the events at Omashu. Sokka was trying to persuade Aang and Katara to eat nuts he had found for dinner which they were very unwilling to do, when Katara heard noises and followed the sound to the source. She was intrigued by the boy she found earthbending. He had long brown hair pulled back with a green hair tie, and was levitating a rock. "An earthbender..." Katara breathed. An earthbender who's around my age... she thought to herself. "Let's go meet him!" said Aang excitedly. My thought exactly, Katara thought to herself smugly, and she jumped over the log the trio was hiding behind, ignoring Sokka, who was saying, "He looks dangerous, so we better approach cautiously..." "Hello there!" she called with a big smile. "I'm Katara! What's your name?" It took the boy a moment to realize that someone was talking to him, but when he registered this fact, he gasped, and began running away, sending a pile of rocks to block the three from following him. Katara's face fell. Do I scare him that much? she mused sadly. "Nice to meet you!" shouted Aang. Katara couldn't tell if he was being serious or sarcastic. "I just wanted to say hi..." Katara muttered, slightly annoyed now. "Hey, that guy's gotta be running somewhere!" Aang suddenly cried excitedly. "Maybe we're near a village!" What is he getting at? Katara thought, perplexed. "And I bet that village has a MARKET!" he continued. Katara suddenly understood, now as excited as Aang. "Which means no nuts for dinner!" she exclaimed happily, and began running the way the earthbender boy had. "Hey, I worked hard to get those nuts!" she distantly heard Sokka say.
Katara drifted lazily through the market place when she suddenly spotted the earthbender boy, and excitedly ran after him as he entered a shop. "Hi mom," she heard the boy say. "Where have you been, Haru? You're late! Get started on your chores," a woman's voice responded. Katara opened the door to the shop. "Hey!" she said to the boy. She heard him give a little gasp. "You're that kid! Why did you run away before?" she continued. "Uh... you must have me confused with some other kid," he replied uneasily. "No she doesn't! We saw you earthbending!" Katara heard Aang reply behind her. The boy's mother gasped and closed the windows. "They saw you doing WHAT?" she asked her son angrily. "They're crazy, mom! I mean, lookit how they're dressed!" Katara covered herself in embarrassment. I knew something was wrong with me! she thought to herself. That's probably why he ran away! Ugh, if I had just grabbed some different clothes... "You know how dangerous that is!" his mother scolded. "You know what would happen ifthey caught you earthbending!" Suddenly, there was pounding on the shop door. "Open up!" they all heard a voice shout. Sokka peeked through the blinds. "Fire Nation!" he hissed, sounding panicked. "Act natural!" The door opened and a fire warrior glared at them all. "What do you want?" snapped the boy's mother. "I've already paid you this week!" Her face showed just how angry she was. "The tax just doubled," replied the warrior pleasantly, "and we wouldn't want an accident, would we?" A fireball suddenly appeared between his two hands. "Fire. It's sometimes so hard to control." He smiled mockingly at the woman. Her face suddenly crumpled, and she took out a small wooden box, scooping out all of the rest of the change and handing it to him. "You can keep the copper ones," the warrior said carelessly, tossing a few coins on the floor and walking out of the shop smugly. Katara burned with rage. That poor woman! And that as- she seethed. "Nice guy," Sokka said, once the door had closed. "How long has the Fire Nation been here?" "Five years," the woman replied. "Firelord Ozai uses our coal town's coal mines to fuel his ships." "They're thugs! They steal from us, and everyone here is too much of a coward to do anything about it!" Haru snarled. "Quiet, Haru! Don't talk like that." "But, Haru's an earthbender!" Katara told her pleadingly. "He can help!" "Earthbending is forbidden. It's caused nothing but misery for this village. He must NEVER use his abilities." "How can you say that?" Katara said, feeling a bit angry. "Haru has a gift! Asking him not to earthbend is like... asking me not to waterbend! It's part of who we are!" "You don't understand..." the woman said, sighing and shaking her head."I understand that Haru can help you fight back!" she argued. "What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done already?" "They could take Haru away!" the woman cried, pain showing in her eyes. "Like they took his father..." Katara suddenly felt great shame come over her as Haru looked away.
"I'm sorry about what I said earlier," Katara told Haru as she walked with him. "I didn't know about your father." "That's okay. It's funny, the way you were talking back in the store? It... reminded me of him," he replied quietly. "Thanks," said Katara, taking it as a compliment. Haru continued to tell her about his father, and Katara found herself liking him more and more. She told him about her mother, her voice nearly cracking, and they both stared blankly into the sunset for a little bit.
As they walked back to Haru's house, a coal mine collapsed, and they heard an old man crying for help. They both tried pulling him out, but to no avail. "Haru- there's a way you can help," Katara hurriedly told him. "I... can't," he said, hanging his head. "Please! There's no one around to see you! It's the only way!" she pleaded anxiously. Please… You can do it! I know you can! Just try… Show your courage and try… Uncertainty crossed his face, but then determination overcame it. He stepped back, and after a few moments, all of the rubble on top of the old man was pushed far back into the mine. "Haru, you did it!" Katara cried happily. She looked deep into his handsome face, feeling her heart ready to burst at his show of courage. That settled it. She liked him.
"It was so brave of Haru to use his earthbending to help that old man," Katara sighed to Aang and Sokka later that night. "You must have REALLY inspired him," Aang told her admiringly. "I guess so," she replied happily. "Everyone should get some sleep. We're leaving at dawn," snapped Sokka, sounding annoyed. "Dawn?" cried Katara. "Can't we sleep in for once?" And can't I hang out with a boy my age? For ONCE?... "Absolutely not! This village is crawling with Fire Nation troops! If they discover you're here, Aang, we'll be eating fireballs for breakfast! Good night." "I'd rather eat fireballs than nuts..." Katara threw back mischievously. "Good NIGHT!" repeated Sokka grumpily. Aang and Katara giggled. What a prick... He needs the sleep more than we do! thought Katara in amusement as she lay her head down. Then, she drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Katara stretched and got up to fill the group's water vase. She looked around, hoping to see Haru doing his chores, but didn't see him at all. As she picked up the now-full vase to go back in the barn, slightly disappointed, she looked up once more and spotted Haru's mom staring out towards the horizon. She smiled at the woman as she turned, but then she saw the tears streaming down her face. Wait a minute... I haven't seen... HARU! suddenly, she understood, and in her shock, the vase slipped out of her hands and cracked all over the ground. At the moment, though, that wasn't her biggest concern. Haru had been captured, that's why she hadn't seen him doing chores! She just knew it!
She rushed into the barn. "They took him!" she exclaimed to Sokka and Aang. "They took Haru away!" "What?" gasped Aang. "The old man took him and turned him into the Fire Nation! It's all my fault, I forced him into earthbending!" she babbled in a panicked voice. Oh, what have I done? If I hadn't been such a silly girl, wanting him to prove his courage… Katara thought in anguish. "Slow down, Katara. When did this happen?" asked Sokka, grabbing her hand comfortingly. "Haru's mother said they came for him at midnight." "Then it's too late to track him. He's long gone," Sokka told her with finality. "We don't need to track him. The Fire Nation is going to take me right to Haru." Because I have a plan... "And... why would they do that?" asked Aang skeptically. "Because they're going to arrest me for earthbending." She knew the determination showed in her voice as well as on her face. This whole mess was her fault. She was going to get Haru out of it.
The trick went as planned, and soon Katara was being shipped off to the coal rig. After the warden's speech, Katara and the other prisoners were bustled into the main part of the rig, and as soon as the doors closed, she heard someone say, "Katara?" She turned quickly, and relief and joy swept through her. "Haru!" she cried, and hugged him tightly. "What are you doing here?" he asked. She looked down sheepishly. "It's my fault you were captured... I came to rescue you," she said softly. "So... you got yourself arrested?" he asked with a hint of reprimand. She felt a twinge of annoyance. "It was the only way to find you," she explained. "You got guts, Katara I'll give you that," he said in amusement.
Katara finally inspired the earthbenders to fight, and after they won, she started to leave, before Haru stopped her. "I wanted to thank you for saving me. For saving us." "All it took was a little coal," she giggled in embarrassment. "It wasn't the coal Katara. It was you." Katara felt her cheeks growing pink, though for some reason, it didn't seem to be because of the fact that Haru had said it... but instead, what had been said. "Thank you for helping me find my courage, Katara of the Water Tribe," Haru's father told her. "My family, and everyone here, owes you much." "So... I guess you're going home now," she stated, smiling. Strangely, she didn't feel too horrible that she wouldn't be seeing Haru anymore. I guess... it was just a little infatuation? she reflected. My first "crush", as they call it... Hmm. Perhaps… Perhaps I just liked him because of the similarities between us regarding our parents. I didn't really know him that well other than that. But, now he has his dad back, and soon his mom, and... I just don't feel the same as I did. Odd. But, oh well, I guess. Maybe... it's better this way. "Yes," the old man responded. "To take back my village. To take back all of our villages!" he cried to the crowd of now-free earthbenders. In response, they cheered. "The Fire Nation will regret the day they set foot on our land!" "Come with us," Haru pleaded quietly to her. Katara instantly knew that the feelings between the two of them had been mutual, after all. However, this still didn't bring back her infatuation, nor weaken her resolve. "I can't," she responded. "Your mission is to take back your home. Ours is to get Aang to the North Pole." "...That's him, isn't it? The Avatar?" Haru asked. When she didn't answer, he continued, slightly defeatedly, "Katara, thank you for bringing my father back to me. I never thought I'd see him again. I only wish there was some way..." "I know," Katara said, suddenly sad again. In instinct, she reached up to her neck to grab onto the necklace. Nothing was there. "My mother's necklace!" she said in a panic. "It's gone!" She felt her stomach drop. No... Please, no...
Zuko was called to a coal rig for earthbending prisoners in the middle of the ocean, because what remained of the guard was sure that the Avatar had been there. As he walked along the deck, something blue and shiny caught his eye. Bending over to see what it was, he recognized the Water Tribe peasant girl's necklace from the first time he had seen her. How did I remember something so insignificant? he wondered. Who cares? another voice in the back of his head said. You know the girl was here, and therefore, that means the Avatar was also here. Clutching the necklace in his hand, deciding against simply dropping it into the water in case it somehow became of help later on, he stared out onto the horizon. He was going to catch them.
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