Chapter 4

The birds chirped outside and Katara stirred fitfully. Images flashed through her head of Aang and the girl he had met. They were trapped and everything was engulfed in darkness. It was a horrifying sight to endure and the awful feeling in her gut wouldn't go away. Suddenly she heard a yell and the last thing she saw were Aang's worried and fearful eyes.

"Katara, wake up."

She opened her eyes at once and hugged Zuko fiercely. He held her and cradled her gently.

"Oh, I had the worst dream. Zuko, I think Aang is in trouble. We have to go back!""

She closed her eyes again and then heard his reassuring voice.

"It was only a dream. Besides, Toph can always help him with her earth bending."

The darkness came again and she saw Aang's cheerful face. Katara sighed and stood up on her own.

"I guess you are right."

She stretched herself out and then looked at Zuko curiously. He yawned and then closed his eyes.

"Are you tried?"

With great effort he stood up and rubbed at his eyes.

"Of course not. I've never been tried."

She kissed him lightly and he opened his eyes with a smile.

"All right then. Let's go get some breakfast."

When they reached the kitchen, everyone was rushing around trying to get the food ready. Zuko sat down at the table and rested his cheek on his hand. Katara noticed that Emi looked much better than she had the previous morning. She took her aside and smiled.

"Katara, I feel wonderful. But you should see my parents. They are exhausted. That surprise party must have done a number on them!"

The two girls giggled together as Naoki walked into the room. For a moment he froze, observing the way Katara's hand drifted up to her face diffidently. Her laughter calmed his senses and then when it stopped, he awoke from the trance and snapped back into reality. Zuko sat at the table yawning as the food was set in front of him. In a few minutes, everyone was gathered around. Mr. So cleared his throat and smiled at his family and friends.

"Good morning everyone. On behalf of my wife and I, we thank you for the splendid surprise last night. It was very unsuspecting and pleasant."

The four youths bowed their heads and began to eat. Zuko ate gradually as Emi laughed slightly and elbowed Zuko with a nudge.

"Seems like my parents aren't the only ones that are bushed. You must have had a fun night."

Zuko turned to her and gave her his best smile. Katara shifted awkwardly. Just then she had realized how beautiful Emi really was. Her grace and presence had such a simple yet perfect manner. Her eyes glowed a brilliant green that made her hair shine as it fell down to her shoulders. Zuko looked away and so did Emi. She looked excitedly in another direction and the fleeting moment of jealously passed. Zuko smiled at Katara but not as lively as before. He was truly exhausted which seemed curious to her. Mrs. So observed this change in Zuko and cleared her throat to speak.

"I think I would like it if Zuko worked inside the house today with Emi. Would you mind if you brought Katara along with you today?"

The question was directed at her husband but Naoki sat there gaping at his mother.

"Sure thing Elana. I'm sure Katara will be just as hard working as Zuko."

Katara nodded and smiled at Naoki. His head spun but he knew that he must focus on keeping his thoughts off of their beautiful guest. In a flurried rush, everyone got up and started to clear the table. When everyone had left except for Zuko and Emi, she got a bowl of water ready and she went to her healing work. Zuko watched as Emi's expression drifted from a normal state of mind to that in which she seemed to float on air. Once the liquid was swallowed Emi fluttered her eyelids open and she sighed happily.

"How do you feel?"

"That was even better than before!"

Mr. So came into the kitchen and looked at the trio curiously.

"What was better than before?"

They looked at one another with caution and then Zuko's voice broke the silence.

"I was telling a joke and she said it was better than the previous one."

"Ah… so what was the joke?"

Zuko thought of the first thing that came to his mind.

"Why did a roosterhen cross the road?"

Their father laughed slightly and shook his head.

"I've heard that one before. Katara, could you come with me? We've got a lot of work to catch up on today."

She nodded and left Zuko with a kiss on the cheek. Mrs. So came inside after they two exited and she looked around with a sigh.

"There's a lot of cleaning up to do today. Zuko can you go clean the back yard? Emi, you can tidy around in here…"

Zuko left the house and shielded his eyes with his hand. The sun was burning especially hot that morning and his hands felt the hot steam rise inside of his body. It had been such a long time since he had fire bended. He wasn't sure he could do it anywhere near here though. His gaze turned towards the mess on the grass and the plates, which were being carried around the yard by the soft wind. Zuko sighed and got to work.

..:-:..

Naoki was waiting for them to come and when Katara smiled, he nodded and smiled back. From now on, he was going to start acting like a normal person around her. There was going to be no more fidgeting and gawking. He was just going to have to get used to being in her presence.

"Naoki, why don't you go get some more things from the woods with Katara's help? You know where to find me."

He nodded and Katara watched as they took different paths. The forest was filled with dense foliage and it looked almost tropical. The leaves fluttered in the wind and the branches seemed to intertwine together as if it was all one tree. Naoki beckoned her in through the tangles and she followed, wincing each time that a branch slipped across her delicate skin. She wasn't used to acting like a savage.

"Why are we going in here? It seems so unnecessary to be surrounded by so much…earth…"

Naoki suddenly laughed at her statement and held his side. It was the first time Katara had seen him laugh and she saw all of the lines in his face. His teeth weren't perfectly straight but they were all right. When he saw her observing him, Naoki stopped and closed his mouth. She cocked an eyebrow towards him and crossed her arms.

"I'm sorry Katara for laughing… it's just…"

"That's right! You should be sorry! That wasn't nice… I was just making a comment…"

His lips curved into a smile and he put his head to the side.

"Right. A comment, which made no sense at all."

She was about to open her mouth and respond when he put a finger to his lips.

"Watch this."

He looked away towards a small flat clearing of grass inside of the forest. His arms pushed towards it and then upwards. The hidden force drove the land upwards and Katara stepped back in shock. Out of the ground was a large hole and it was perfect and clean. There were no ridge or branches sticking out. She stepped closer towards it and examined the marvel.

"Wow… how did you do that?"

"Well we have a hidden route of tunnels right? This is the transportation system. We pile a bunch of fallen earth and leaves and anything that has to do with nature."

He demonstrated by taking a bunch of fallen branches and putting them in the hole.

"Now I put the ground back as it should be and then I send it away towards the main sector where it then gets transported to one of the many tunnels, one of which my father is in."

She watched in awe as he pounded the ground back into place. It seemed as if nothing had changed and that the ground was always whole as it should be. Suddenly, she felt a low rumbling underneath her feet. Katara swayed and had to grab onto Naoki's arm. He looked at her for a moment but then dismissed his thoughts. If he was anything, Naoki was definitely a man who kept to his promises, no matter how hard they were to keep. In a few seconds the rumbling passed them and Katara let go of him. She smiled brightly and jumped up and down.

"Naoki, that was so amazing! I would have never thought to do that! Can we try another one?"

He nodded and laughed shortly at her enthusiasm. That's what he loved, that she was eager to join into the work. It showed how much she was willing to be helpful.

"All right. Let's go a bit further in. Oh yeah, there's one up ahead."

There was a faint path in the ground but Katara had to look twice to see it. The earth benders had made sure that only they could find the path. Naoki stopped and touched a tree. He closed his eyes and Katara watched on with intrigue. She had only been around water benders her entire life. When she met Zuko, she was instantly drawn to him, well it took a while but eventually she got hooked. Now that Naoki was demonstrating the art of earth bending, she was absolutely amazed.

"Look's like we've come to another."

He did the same movement as before and the ground shook as a circle shaped piece of land rose into the air. Katara saw another hole and smiled widely. She ran away to find anything of importance that seemed to be lying around for no reason at all. The hole was filled up faster than the first time, and within minutes the ground was stirring again underneath their feet. This time Katara held onto a tree and she felt the vibrations run through her fingers and into her heart. She felt more alive and in tune with nature than she had ever felt before.

"This is marvelous Naoki. Did you do this with Zuko yesterday? He'd love this kind of thing! Did you know that he has traveled all around the world?"

Naoki's smile turned a bit bitter but he held it on his lips.

"That's interesting… so then he would probably think this isn't much of anything."

"Oh no! Don't say that Naoki! This system is quite remarkable!"

The sun filtered through the tops of the trees and they walked on, the process repeating itself each time. Suddenly as they walked farther into the forest than they should have, Naoki felt vibrations in the ground up ahead. He stopped Katara and she silenced her laugh when she saw the serious expression on his face. She saw him put his fingers to his lips and then he motioned for her to follow him. They crept along the huge masses of foliage and they were barely able to peek their eyes out to the people moving along in the brush and trees in front of them. A few yards away, maybe ten, there was a small group of soldiers in fire nation uniforms. Katara almost gasped but Naoki put his hand over her mouth to silence her. If it wasn't for the perilous state they were in, he would have been thrilled to be so close to her, but his mind was on the men in front of him. He let go and then continued to survey them.

There was a machine of some kind and it was grotesque. Everywhere they looked, some kind of sharp steel stuck out of it, razor sharp jaws on some parts of the apparatus. Katara's head was buzzing and she was shocked that the soldiers didn't hear her heart beating. It was pounding in her chest and it was mostly because of the shock. She had never realized how cruel some people could be. All she had known about was the people in the North Pole. There were no torture devices such as the machine she was staring at. Naoki seemed to be concentrating especially on it, as if he was memorizing every little detail of it. The soldiers were rolling their eyes and then they saw that one of them had a mask on. Katara didn't know what that meant, but Naoki did and he rose his eyebrows and motioned her to go back the way they came. Katara began to tip toe away, but then Naoki stopped. Someone had come and all of the soldiers scurried into formation.

It was a woman and her hair was tied back except for two small strands that fell around her face. Her eyes were a terrifying amber color and it seemed as if she held the gaze of the underbrush where Naoki was hiding. But she turned away and walked over to the machine. Naoki narrowed his eyes and watched the men, all of them acting subservient to the woman. She was definitely someone worth remembering. Suddenly, he heard a small rustling to his right and his head turned immediately towards Katara. She was trying to get his attention without really calling any to her. Thankfully the men near the machine hadn't noticed and Naoki crept towards her stealthily. They kept walking away in a stiff silence. Tension wrung the air in between the two of them and it wasn't until Naoki had found a familiar spot that he stopped and took a deep intake of air.

"We're safe now. The forest ends in a little bit and we'll be by my house."

Katara sighed with relief and stretched her arms out to the air.

"Thank goodness! I was really scared for a while… there was no water and…"

He looked at her with confusion and her mouth dropped open, but she didn't say anything. Katara realized her mistake a bit too late.

"Why would that matter?"

"Oh I don't know… maybe we could have … drown them?"

The tension gone, Naoki smiled and laughed with her. They started to make their way back towards the house when suddenly Naoki heard a yell behind him. He turned around on his heel and his eyes widened when he saw that Katara was being pulled into one of the trees. The vines entangled her wrists and ankles. One of them slithered around her neck and its grip tightened with each second, leaving her face to turn into a slightly flustered color.

"Katara!"

He ran to her and she struggled to free herself of the binding that wound around her body. She tried to take a deep breath as she craned her neck upwards. Naoki pushed and pulled his arms with concentration. He was trying to pull the vines away from her, away from the trees, but nothing was working.

"My bending isn't working!"

Naoki growled and his heart grew worried. The vines were wrapping around her even more and then he heard her desperate whisper.

"Get Zuko… now!"

He saw the assurance in her eyes and even though it pained him that he couldn't be the one to help her, he knew that his pride had to take a step back. Naoki ran from the forest and he burst into the fields, sunlight all around him. The grass rustled in the wind and his clothes flapped together as he ran with all of his strength towards the house.

Zuko had just finished cleaning and tending to the animals with Emi. He looked up to the forest and saw a speck running towards them. After a few seconds, he saw that it was Naoki.

"Emi, why is your brother running?"

"I don't know… maybe something happened!"

Her voice was full of worry and they exchanged nervous glances. That was when Zuko realized that Katara wasn't with Emi's brother.

"Zuko! It's Katara! She needs you!"

The shout was barely audible but Zuko heard it even from the great distance, which Naoki still had to run. Zuko immediately dropped the bucket he was holding and he darted towards the forest in the direction Naoki had come from. He ran without stopping, without thinking, only knowing that he had to get to her fast. Naoki started to slow down, pain searing through his side. He blinked his eyes and saw that Emi was following Zuko at a much slower paced run. Zuko passed by him with amazing speed and then as Emi started to reach him, she tripped and fell, a loud yell erupting from her throat. Naoki looked from the forest to his sister and then growled angrily. Katara had Zuko, and he had to tend to his weak sister.

Zuko thrashed his way through the green scenery and he didn't care if all of it slashed his face or his arms. Katara was in trouble and he had to save her. Suddenly he saw her tied to the try, her face beet red. She was suffocating and time was of the essence. He ran up to her and she looked at him desperately, her eyelids fluttering, her strength decreasingly rapidly. Zuko looked at the vines and knew what he had to do at once. With utter happiness, he reached out his palms and with a deep breath, two identical flames erupted in his hands. He stepped closer towards Katara and the sparks hissed at the vines. The bright light and the overpowering heat drove the vines away. Katara fell to the ground on her knees and as soon as Zuko let his fire extinguish, the vines were starting to creep back towards them. Zuko pulled Katara up and he carried her in his arms as he started to walk away from the tree. Suddenly he stopped in his place as Katara took deep breaths of air.

Naoki and Emi stood there gaping at them. Katara turned her head towards their new friends and her eyes widened fearfully. Naoki was looking at her with instant hatred and even more pure disgust towards Zuko. He grabbed Emi, who was now standing fine on her own, and held his sister close to him. Zuko put Katara down and she took a step towards them, her eyes pleading.

"Don't come any closer!"

Katara stopped and hung her head. When she looked up at him again, her eyes were blurry and for a second his hatred left his heart, but then he remembered that she had tricked him by keeping Zuko's identity a secret. Somewhere inside of his mind he even thought that Zuko was involved with the group of soldiers they had spotted.

"Please Naoki, listen to me, listen to us. We're sorry we didn't tell you, but we knew you'd react the way you are now."

Emi stirred and realized that her friends weren't going to hurt them. Katara had, after all, started to heal her. How could someone like that be plotting to turn on them in the end? She pushed away from her brother and stood on her own. Zuko stood next to Katara and he looked at the two So siblings with regret.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I was a fire bender. We were going to eventually, but we didn't want the two of you to judge us."

Naoki's head was spinning and an awful conclusion came to his mind.

"Wait, are you a fire bender too Katara?"

This time, it was Emi who answered. She stepped in between Katara and Naoki, looking at her brother definitely.

"No she's not. She's a water bender and I'm not going to let you do anything to my friends."

Naoki's mouth dropped and he didn't know what to do. Katara was a water bender, that he hadn't expected, but for his sister to know and to be defending them was another situation in itself. From the look on his sister's face, he knew that the battle was lost. Something tugged at his conscience and he knew that Katara and Zuko weren't going to hurt them, even thought they hadn't spoken the truth.

"All right. Nothing will happen, as long as you come with me and you tell me the whole truth."

They nodded their heads and followed Naoki out of the forest. The sun was beginning to fall in the blue sky above them and it had only seemed like few moments ago they had been eating breakfast. The four friends walked half way towards the house without stopping or talking to one another. It seemed as if there was tension in between them, distrust hung around their heads like an invisible mist shining through Naoki's eyes. He stopped at a rock and sat on it.

"You can tell me everything now, and I mean everything."

Zuko and Katara looked at each for assurance and then Katara took a deep breath.

"And you promise that this is between the four of us. No one else will know?"

Naoki nodded and she closed her eyes.

"Well basically I'm an ex-princess from the North Pole on the run. I secretly water bend. It's not allowed back at my home. Zuko is from the Fire Nation but he was banished and sent to roam the world. We don't want to harm anyone. Recently we were traveling with the avatar."

Emi's eyes widened and Naoki sat gaping at her, too much shock in his body made him immobile. Zuko nudged Katara and she realized that she shouldn't have said the last part about Aang. She laughed shortly as Zuko put his arm around her waist.

"Oh, forgive us. We failed to mention that the Avatar is back again. Surprised?"

Emi sat down next to her brother and they sat there in shock. They stepped towards their friends and smiled.

"So you're telling the truth?" Naoki was barely able to manage his question.

Zuko nodded. "Yes. Every word is true and not a lie. We split up with the Avatar so he could learn earth bending with a girl his own age."

Naoki put a hand to his head and shook it in awe.

"That's just so very unexpected. I could teach him though… I don't see how a hundred year old teacher is any good."

Zuko and Katara exchanged smiles and Emi cocked her eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"Well you see…" Zuko finished Katara's statement, "Aang is only twelve years old."

Emi and Naoki looked at each with even more confusion than before.

"It's all right. We didn't believe it either. I guess we will just have to go find someone else to help us then Zuko."

He nodded and they started to walk away.

"You're right. They obviously don't want our help in trade for theirs."

Naoki stood up and called after them. Even though their story was completely ridiculous, it seemed like they would be honest at that point.

"Wait. We believe you."

Zuko and Katara turned around and smiled. Emi touched her brother's shoulder gently and she looked at him with bright eyes.

"Guess what Naoki? Katara is going to heal me with her water bending!"

Naoki looked at Katara and when she heard Emi's words, Katara waved her hand modestly and smiled.

"It's nothing I keep telling you! I want to help in any way I can!"

Suddenly Naoki felt strong vibrations in the earth and they came from deep within the forest. He glanced to the trees at the corner of his eyes and his smile faded.

"I think we should get back to the house. And I think we should do something about your clothes Katara."

She looked taken aback but with a serious glance from Naoki she knew what he meant. There was a threat inside the forest and she couldn't be spotted as a person from the water tribe, even worse a princess from the North Pole.

"All right. Let's go back."

The sun was setting and with it was the new knowledge inside of Katara. She would tell Zuko as soon as she was alone with him. Whatever they were doing in the forest, it didn't seem like a good thing. Denati was far from the peaceful little Earth Kingdom town that they wished it was.

..:-:..

Aang laughed freely as the wind carried him above the houses of his village. Toph growled angrily as he came back to her mansion and landed quietly.

"Twinkle-toes! What did I say about flying off in the middle of practice? It's getting annoying!"

She pouted and crossed her hands looking away. Aang grinned even though she couldn't see him do it. He loved getting her riled up; it was easy and entertaining to watch. The one thing he didn't like was his nickname.

"Don't call me that… Blind Bandit!"

Her eyes widened and she stepped on the ground forcefully. It shook around him and before Aang could get away, the ground grew all around him. Toph smirked and put her arms down.

"Don't say that out loud! You know my parents have no idea…"

She stood still and alert. Aang felt the ground fall back to its original place and she put her finger to her lips.

"There's something coming."

They looked around and that was when Aang saw it. There was a large cloud of dust heading through the town. It kept closing in on the mansion and when Aang flew away, he heard Toph's frustrated growls. The Avatar came closer to the dust cloud and then it stopped. Aang swept down to the ground and pushed his staff in the direction of the cloud. The dust disappeared instantly and there was a man clothed in blue riding some kind of gray animal he hadn't seen before. It had large tusks and whiskers the length of a whip. The man got down from his ride and walked up to the boy with a superior tone in his walk.

"Hi! Are you visiting here?"

Aang's cheerful approach hadn't worked and the man didn't smile.

"Have you seen anyone dressed like me?"

He squinted and observed the man's blue robes. Suddenly the recognition dawned on him.

"Yeah! I saw my friend Katara in blue clothes too! Why do you want to know?"

The man's eyes widened and he stepped closer to the Avatar, his tone demanding and low.

"Where did she go?"

Aang pointed behind him and smiled.

"She went to Denati with someone else…"

"A man?"

Aang nodded and watched as the man ran up to his animal. He kicked the side of the animal and sped away, another dust cloud forming behind their trail. Toph had finally managed to find Aang and she seemed angry.

"What did I miss?"

"Oh not much. Some guy wanted to know where my friends were."

Toph cocked her eyebrow and laughed shortly.

"Let me guess, you told him?"

Aang wasn't sure he understood why telling a stranger where your friends were was wrong. Then it hit him and he slapped his forehead.

"Oh no! I just remembered that Katara had a brother they were running away from! I can't believe I told him where they were!"

Aang hung his head, but Toph's hand went up to his shoulder.

"It's okay. I'm sure they will be able to handle themselves. Besides, it's only one person right?"

Aang nodded slightly and grunted. They headed back towards the mansion and Aang hoped with all of his heart that his friends would be all right.

..:-:..

That night, Katara wasn't able to fall asleep. Visions of her home in the North filled her thoughts. Cascading water falls, the snow so crisp and bright underneath her feet. Then she dreamed of her mother, Shira. For some reason, expelling her secret brought back old memories of her home and how happy she had been with her mother. So much had happened since she was little. Yue was dead, but not really. Sokka hated her guts more than it was possible, and she had betrayed her father's trust. A tear slipped down her cheek and she whimpered in her sleep.

"Mother…"

Zuko stirred when he heard her soft whisper calling out desperately to no one. He pulled her closer to him and sighed. The past was never truly buried in the past.

A/N: Wow! That was longer than I expected! I hope you liked it and I think you'll be less confused now lol xD there is still the question of Naoki… he's mysterious huh? Lol :) Anyways, I just realized that Zuko barely talked in this chapter! I'll be sure to add him in more next time! Thanks so much for reading! Have a wonderful day!

-Monika-