Chapter 4

Dancing Footprints

"I don't see her, Aang." Sokka complained, looking at the earth below. They had been searching for Katara for hours. Momo gave a small mrrr and folded his ears down.

"She's gotta be down there somewhere, Sokka. We'll find her soon enough." Aang chirped, ever the optimist. Sokka sighed and hung limply over the side of the saddle. Leave it to Katara to get lost.

"You know, she probably went back to the camp by now...maybe we should head back and wait there for a few hours." Sokka suggested, impressed with his own logic.

"That's a great idea! Appa, let's go!" Aang said as he gave a sharp pull on the reins. Appa banked a hard right, causing Sokka to tumble over to the other side of the saddle.

"A little warning, please?" He cried out.

"Well...looks like she's not here, yet," Sokka said as he climbed off of Appa, "but I'm sure she'll show up soon. She can't be that lost." He continued as he looked around the clearing.

"Um...Sokka?" Aang called from the other side of the massive flying bison, "You better come have a look at this!" With a sigh, Sokka walked around Aang, what he saw made him gasp. A line of trees had been burned down. The fire had been extinguished hours ago as no smoke remained. The fact that the fire had started and ended long before Sokka and Aang returned filled Sokka with a feeling of dread. Only firebenders could do such a thing!

"We need to find Katara. Now!" Sokka yelled, fully realising the intensity of the situation. There were firebenders somewhere in the forest, where Katara was presumably lost.

"Sokka, there's something else..."Aang said, sadness filling his voice. Sokka looked at the young boy, who was standing a few feet off and pointing at the ground. Aang looked as if he was about to cry. Sokka walked over to where the boy was standing. With each step he took, he wanted to run away more and more. He didn't want to know. He didn't want to know. Finally, Sokka looked at the ground where Aang pointed. There, no mistake, was Katara's footsteps. Sokka traced them as they went towards the burned trees, then skidded to a halt and moved in the opposite direction only to make a sharp right towards the pond. They came out of the pond and danced around with a lot of other footsteps. In the middle of all the steps, lay an imprint of what could only be Katara's body. Five footprints walked back into the forest.

"They took Katara. They took my sister. KATARA!" Sokka yelled into the forest, hoping that maybe she escaped the hands of the firebenders and was now waiting for him in the forest, "KATARA! COME BACK!" Tears threatened to break from Sokka's eyes, but he wiped them away, he was the older brother. He had to be strong for her.

Aang stared at the soft sand where Katara's body had made it's imprint. It was all his fault. If only he wasn't the Avatar, then none of this would have happened. Katara and Sokka would be safe in the Southern Watertribe right now and he would be...would be dead. Fate is cruel.

Sokka walked over to the young nomad and put his and on the boy's shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze.

"Come on, we have to find out where they took her." He said gravely. Aang nodded and walked slowly back to Appa, climbing aboard with a seriousness that did not fit a boy of his age. Being the Avatar caused one to grow up too fast.

AN:

Thanks, sorry for another short chapter, but I have work soon so I couldn't do what I was planning. So, Sokka and Aang finally know (a bit) about what happened to Katara, so what will they do next? I certainly don't know! But yeah...

: Thanks! And yeah, it definitely is a Zutara fanfic :D I'll get there, I promise! It just might take a while...hahah! I hope you continue to like where I take this story and if something is ever unsatisfactory, please don't be afraid to tell me! :)

Flitterbugz: Thank you! I really hope I don't disappoint with any upcoming chapters!

Avatar Princess: Thanks! I probably should have changed the dialogue a little more, but I just didn't have the heart, hahaha! That was the episode when I first started shipping Zutara . I love it 3 Thank you for your imput and I hope you continue to enjoy the story! I'm trying my best!

Well that's it for now, thank you everyone for coming this far! Please continue with me through this story! Your support is vastly appreciated!