Disclaimer: I do not own avatar. I am just a very big fan of it…
KataraZuko turned all his attention to the young water bender as she made her way to the entrance gates. He kept a safe distance behind her so he would not attract attention to himself and cause any suspicion. Katara had almost made it out, when a voice rang through the crowed streets of the town.
"Katara!"
Zuko cursed and spun himself around and busied himself with a nearby vendors cart. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Katara walk backward, puzzled.
"Hae Lyn?" She asked.
"Katara" the woman said after taking a few breaths. "we wanted to give you some items before you left." The woman thrusted a large package into the water benders hands. "This should be enough for you for at least a few days. That's about enough time to last you until you reach another village."
Katara was generally surprised and thankful. "You shouldn't have, Hae Lyn-" she began but Hae Lyn cut her off.
"No. Katara, it was an honor to be of any help to you. I wish you luck on your journey." The woman bowed at Katara, who replied with the same gesture.
After a few moments of goodbyes, Katara madder her way out of the town, with Zuko close behind.
Katara was sure she felt someone watching her. She felt their eyes on her ever since she left the Earth Nation town. Though she found it unnerving and scary, she was armed with her water pouch. She felt somewhat confidant.
As it neared the second day since her departure, she was getting frustrated. Knowing that she was being followed caused her to loose much sleep, and she anxiously awaited some form of attack. Finally, unable to bear another night waiting in fear, she yelled out angrily.
"I know you're out there! Show your self you coward!"
Zuko held his breath, wondering what he should do. But he was saved from making a decision when he heard a familiar voice.
"Katara…"
"I should have known it was you. What do you want Jet?" she asked calmly. Zuko watched what was conspiring in the small pathway and could see the amount of energy it took for Katara to keep the hatred from her voice.
"I'm glad that you are acting a bit more civilized wince we last spoke," Jet stated. He ignored the low, angry growl that escaped Katara's lips. "I want you to come with me and my fellow rebels."
"And why, WHY, would I do that?" Katara asked, her eyes glowing with hatred. Zuko also noticed the hint of surprise in her voice.
"Well, having a water bender with us, would certainly be useful, among other things, can you think of how much we can get done if we had the will of the water at our bidding?" Jet stated.
Is he so caught up in his little fantasy world, that he doesn't realize how angry he is making Katara? Zuko thought. Zuko was so caught up in his own thought that he didn't even realize that he was angry. Zuko felt the urge to do something, anything, but stopped when he noticed Jet do a particular movement with his left hand, as if he was signaling someone.
Zuko's eyes narrowed as he saw the rest of Jet's group crawl out of the shadowed forest that surrounded Katara. He turned his gaze at the water bender and saw her eyes flicker nervously from left to right as Jet's comrades approached her from all angles.
Katara hurriedly uncapped her water pouch and bended the water, but her movements weren't fast enough. Jet rushed at her and grabbed both her wrists and held on tightly as she struggled furiously to free her self.
"Let me go!" she shouted at him.
"Katara, you look tired, I think you should get some rest," Jet muttered. A swift movement of his hand against her neck, and she fell limply into his arms. "There, there now," Jet soothed to the unconscious girl, "don't worry, everything will be alright."
Jet picked up the girl and threw her over his shoulder. "Gather her belongings. When she comes to, she wont be in the best mood and so we need to take a few precautions before she wakes up."
Jet's gang hurriedly gathered the water benders few possessions and hurriedly followed after Jet.
Zuko was curious as to what exactly were Jet's plans. He quickly decided what his actions were to be and acted swiftly.
Jet was walked along the path; his small army of rebels following him, when he spotted a figure walking slowly ahead of them and quickly repositioned Katara in his arms. Her body fit snugly against his chest as he carried her. When Jet recognized the face in front of him, he let out a small smirk.
"Well, fancy meeting you here," Jet said.
Zuko whirled around to see Jet behind him. he noticed the sleeping Katara in his arms and felt a surge of anger. But, despite the emotion he felt, he forced a small smirk.
"I was hoping I would run into you," Zuko stated, "I've reconsidered your offer. If you still would like an extra member, I'm ready to help."
Jet's smiled widened. "Of course you still welcome to join our humble group."
There was a brief silence as the two boys stood there. Zuko glanced at the 'sleeping' Katara. "Is that what you went to 'pick up' back at town?" Zuko asked, already knowing the answer.
"Katara? Oh, yeah. She's an old friend of mine. I ran across her earlier. I'm trying to persuade her to come with us. She'd be very useful if we can get her to join us.
"If your friends, wouldn't she agree to help you anyway?" before he realized it, the words were out of Zuko's mouth. But he didn't back down. This boy was cradling Katara against himself. He was acting as if he was familiar with her. Zuko thought bitterly.
"Lets just say we had a bit of a falling out." Jet said dully. A scowl had formed where his smirk was.
Zuko quietly smiled at his accomplishment. "Why? What happened?" he pressed. Before Jet, could answer him, Katara mumbled something. Both boys stared at her.
"I think we should make camp here," Jet told Zuko. Jet looked around and spotted a lone tree off in the distance. He left Zuko and the rest of his gang to bind Katara to the tree.
"Katara," Jet whispered quietly. "Katara, wake up." He waited for the water bender to fully regain her senses. As he saw her eyes widen and her attempts to mover her hand, he attempted to talk to her. "Katara, I know you're upset at the moment-"
"Upset! You tied me to a tree!" she spat at him. She would have said more, but Jet's hand covered her mouth.
"Listen to me Katara," he said in a warning tone. "at the moment, I have the upper hand. Now, … OUCH!" his hand flew away from her mouth as she bit him. He backed away and stared down at the girl. Furious, he stepped closer and lifted his hand as if to hit her. Katara quickly shut her eyes and waited for the strike to hit her.
But it never did.
"You shouldn't hit a girl."
Katara's eyes snapped open at the voice. No, she thought. She stared in horror at Zuko. He was standing behind Jet, looking extremely mad. It took her a few moments to realize that she never felt Jet strike her because Zuko held a death-tight grip on Jet's wrist.
Jet was momentarily shocked, but regained his composure and quickly jerked his wrist from Zuko's grasp.
"What are you doing here?" Jet asked.
"well, you never explained to me what exactly what your project was, so I decided to ask you when I saw you 'speaking' to this girl."
This girl? What are you playing Zuko? thought Katara. Jet and Zuko stared at each other angrily, but then Jet smirked as if nothing had happened.
"What was your name again?"
"Lee," Zuko replied immediately.
"Well, Lee, we- us rebels- have taken it upon our selves to rid our country of fire nation scum. We have been monitoring a few troops recently and were headed on our way there, when a few things caught our eye." He glanced at Katara and then backs at Zuko. "We will be attacking them in a few days time, and in those few days we will be deciding on the best plan of action we can make against them."
Katara tore her gaze from Zuko's unreadable face and stared at Jet.
"Jet! You can't kill them! This has to stop, now!"
"Katara," Jet said, "I'll be talking to you later." He turned to Lee, "Lee, would you do me a favor? I'd like you to guard Katara. I'm going back to the camp and discuss a few things with the rest of the group. When we reach a decision, we'll tell you what's going to happen."
"What? You're leaving me with him?"
Both Zuko and Jet turned back to Katara. Zuko looked at her and held a finger to his lips. Since Jet was in front of him, he didn't see the gesture. "It's him or me Katara."
After a few moments, Katara reluctantly mumbled a "fine" before falling into silence.
"Lee, watch yourself." Jet said before leaving the two of them.
Zuko and Katara waited a few moments before bursting out.
"What are you doing here?"
"You stupid peasant!"
"Like you have much of a title either, " Katara stated. Zuko growled and clenched his fists. Whips of smoke curled into the air from his hands.
"If it weren't for your boyfriend, I wouldn't have to be here," he replied angrily.
"He is not my boyfriend!" Katara hissed.
Although Zuko still clenched his fists, he felt relief. "It doesn't matter what I'm doing here. What does matter is knowing how we are going to do to stop him." he said, regaining composure. Katara immediately stopped fuming and started thinking.
"You'll have to sabotage," she stated.
"Yes, but how? "Zuko pressed.
"I don't know! I don't know what horrible plan he has ready!" she said frustrated. She didn't like the fact that she was standing there with her hands tied behind her back, and having the man who was dead set on capturing her friend in front of her. It was nerve wrecking.
Zuko saw the look of frustration and anger on her face an immediately regretted pushing to hard. She was basically helpless at the moment and he wasn't helping. He saw her look up and to the sides, looking wishful and hopeful.
"Ah! Damn it, Katara! Why did you have to tell him to go his won way!" she muttered under her breath. Zuko barely caught the words, but understood the meaning immediately. She was referring to their encounter earlier, when the Blue Spirit mask hid him.
Not yet, it's too risky. He thought
The two of them fell into silence, since neither one of them knew what to do, they remained quite until Jet came and found them both thinking thoughtfully.
"The rest of the group and I have been discussing and we have come to the conclusion that in five days, we will attack the fire nation troop at dawn."
"And how are we going to do that?" Zuko asked.
Jet smiled. "The Avatar is a wanted man, so the fire nation must have heard about his traveling companions and friend."
Zuko glanced at Katara. A glare was formed on her face.
"Why does everyone see me as bait?" she asked out loud. Zuko almost smiled briefly at her comment but remained unreadable.
Sorry it took so long for me to update. I've been busy with school and such… Please review and all that Jazz.SilencedProtest