Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters, so please do not sue me!
Hello! Wow, thank you for all the reviews! Well, here's chapter 3! I hope you all will like it, and please, no flames!
(On With The Story!)
"No, don't be afraid." General Iroh said as he held up his hands to show her he meant her no harm.
"What happened?" Katara asked as she was still a little shaken up. General Iroh approached her before sitting down and the chair and folding his hands on his lap.
"I'm really not sure… Well, I guess we surprised you when we shot the cannon at the large bison. After that, I guess you just fell off." General Iroh replied.
"I know that, but what happened afterward?" Katara urged as she desperately wanted to know how she ended up on their ship without breaking her neck.
After a long sigh, General Iroh pursed his lips and leaned a little to his right to see if anyone was coming outside the door. "My nephew probably won't like for me to tell you this, but when you were falling, he jumped off the ship and caught you in mid-air so the fall itself wouldn't kill you." Iroh explained as Katara's eyes grew wide.
"Zu -- Zuko saved me life?" Katara asked as her voice gently faltered.
"Yes." General Iroh replied as he laid his hand on her shoulder.
"Why?" Katara asked as she started at the General with desperate eyes.
"He didn't tell me. He just said he didn't know." Iroh replied. Katara sighed gently hearing his reply and trying to find some reason why the hell Zuko would even care if any of their lives were in danger. All he cared about was catching the Avatar. Didn't he? "But if Zuko asks, don't tell him that I told you, okay? It's our secret."
"Of course." Katara said knowing Zuko would blow up if he knew that he told her.
"Alright then. I'll go get you something to eat." General Iroh said as he stood up and headed toward the door. Katara just smiled warily and lay back down on the bed again. Katara shifted wondering how on earth anyone could sleep on such a hard bed.
"Awake yet?" Zuko asked from the doorway. Katara gasped as she looked up and seen Zuko leaning against the doorframe as his arms were crossed. Katara didn't answer as she just remembered how Iroh told her that this teen standing in front of her saved her life. The longer she looked at him, the more she remembered how his lips and fingers felt on her neck and hair. Her whole body tingled at the thought.
"Zuko…" Katara whispered. Zuko looked at her in a puzzling manner as he wondered what that look was for. She looked as if she was about to cry or something.
"Listen, My Uncle Iroh is going to be looking after you now. When the Avatar comes to get you, we'll give you back to your pathetic weakling of a brother. So, you're only going to stay here as long as that Avatar keeps stalling." Zuko said before leaving the room as quickly as he came.
Katara gave the place where he was just standing a dirty look. She had no idea why she was having those thoughts before. She couldn't believe that she forgot what a total pompous asshole the guy could be. "Here you go!" General Iroh said happily as he walked into the room with a bowl full of steamy rice, chicken, and vegetables with a small glass of water on the side of it.
Katara half smiled at the General and wondered why Iroh was so nice while Zuko was a royal pain in the ass. "Thank you." Katara said in a fiery voice as she accepted the food that Iroh offered to her.
"You're welcome. You eat up and I'll be back in 20 minutes with a change of clothes for you." Iroh said before walking out of the bedroom.
Katara sighed deeply as she placed the chopsticks to her mouth and took a small bite. After one bite, Katara put the chopsticks down and took another deep breath and let it out slowly. God, Zuko would aggravate a person beyond belief. He was such an arrogant bastard… Katara looked at the small glass of water and motioned her hand and began to waterbend the small amount of water in the cup.
"Hello!" Iroh said loudly when he walked in making Katara whip the water toward the elderly General. Iroh reacted quickly and used a small amount of fire that dissolved the small amount used for the water whip.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! You startled me!" Katara said as she started to breath hard.
"Oh no, it's alright." General Iroh replied as he walked in with a few articles of clothing under his arm.
"You're a good bender." Katara complimented.
"You're not so bad yourself." He replied as he laid the clothed on the edge of the bed. "Who taught you how to waterbend?" Iroh asked a few minutes later after sitting down on the chair next to the bed.
"I taught myself. You see, there was no one in the village that knew waterbending except for me when I left to help Aang go to the North Pole." Katara replied. For some reason, she felt she could trust Iroh and tell him practically anything. He kind of felt like he was just a friendly old man whom you could tell anything without getting judged. Kind of like a grandfather actually.
"I taught Prince Zuko everything that I knew, and I think he's already surpassed me. I had no idea why his father treated him like he did…" Iroh said with sorrow lacing his gentle voice. Katara looked over at Iroh and gave him a curious look at what he just told her.
"You taught him?" Katara asked.
"Yes. His father never had the time and didn't really want anything to do with Zuko. Zuko is like a son to me… More especially, since… Oh, never mind. It's best I let you get some rest. It's still quite early." Iroh replied before he soot up and started to head for the door. "Get some rest. No one will bother you. Oh, and change if you want. That dress doesn't seem very warm." He said before he exited the door and closed it behind him.
Katara sighed as she shivered in her thin dress. It was weird that she didn't feel cold until he mentioned it. She looked at the clothes and stood up. She took off her dress and adjusted her bra strap as she wondered how long time wise she would be here. She knew that Aang and Sokka would look for her soon so she wouldn't have to stay here very long. After she put on the short-sleeved shirt and athletic pants, she plopped on the bed again.
Katara smiled as she felt the comfortable fabric surrounding her. She had no idea why, but these clothes were really comfortable… She lay back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling and her eyes trailed to the Fire Nation symbol painted in red on the wall. She had to accept that she was practically being held hostage here. It was strange knowing that someone could walk in here at any second and burn her to a crisp.
But Katara also knew that Zuko was smart enough to keep her alive to lure Aang to him. She heard a knock on the door and mumbled, "Come in." Zuko walked in when she said that and she gave him a dirty look from what he said this morning.
"What's your problem?" Zuko hissed when she walked pass her and nearly tripped on the dress she had lying on the floor. Katara tried hard not to laugh, but Zuko quickly recovered and gently kicked it to the side.
"Maybe you're my problem!" she shouted trying her hardest not to burst out laughing.
"Why don't you just shut up before I change my mind about keeping you alive?" Zuko threatened as he took one of the two swords off the wall. Katara was quite terrified knowing that Zuko had a bad temper and the fuse to set it off was quite short…
"Now, Zuko, cut that out and let her get some rest." General Iroh said as he walked in the door.
"Typical. You always take the pathetic woman's side." Zuko growled back as he placed the sword back on the wall and turned to face his uncle.
"Listen, Zuko. I'm not taking any sides. I knew we're holding her captive here, but we have to make sure she's not too afraid." Iroh replied.
"Whatever." Zuko said as he stepped aside of his uncle and walked back out the door. After Zuko left, General Iroh sighed gently as he felt tears start filling his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Katara asked.
"He never used to be like that… God! What the hell did Ozai do to him?" Iroh shouted as he punched his hand into the wall leaving it with a large burn mark in the shape of a fist. He felt the tears falling from his eyes as he looked at the ground. "What happened to you, Zuko?" Iroh asked a few minutes later before he walked out of the room as Katara stared at the doorway.
Katara swallowed a lump that formed in her throat as she felt herself start to shake. She was scared. This place was different and she knew every crewmember on this ship definitely had the ability to cause her a lot of harm and she knew if she talked back like she did to Zuko, they probably wouldn't be as merciful. Hours passed but they felt like seconds to Katara as she was lost in her thoughts.
"Here you are." General Iroh said as he walked into the bedroom and handed her yet another tray of food.
"I'm not very hungry…" Katara whispered as she kept fiddling with her fingernails.
After Iroh sighed gently, he sat next to her on the bed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry for doing that in front of you earlier. I must have startled you." Iroh said as he patted her shoulder.
"No… I'm just scared…" Katara replied.
"Oh, don't worry about Prince Zuko. I know he has a very fiery temper, but I doubt he would intentionally do any kind of harm to you." Iroh said as he smiled happily.
"No… Not of him strangely enough…" Katara said, but she shook her head signalizing she didn't want to talk about it anymore.
"Well, I'll leave you alone and I'll leave the food here just in case." Iroh said before he grabbed the tray from earlier and walked out of the room and shutting the door behind him. Katara sighed feeling once again in darkness as she felt the over-pour of tears start to fall from her eyes.
(To Be Continued…)