Chapter four: Bargaining

Sokka and Toph took downtown, while Aang searched uptown. Everywhere they went people would just stare at them like they were crazy.

"Did you guys find anything?" Aang asked.

"No, I didn't find her and no one has seen her," Sokka responded shaking his head. "It's like she vanished into thin air."

"Wait!" Toph exclaimed. "I think I saw in the market place!"

"That's great Toph, which market…" Sokka began. "You need to seriously stop that.

Katara woke the next morning to sunlight pouring into the room she was in. She stretched and felt chains on her skin. She sighed in disappointment. She had hoped that the vivid "dream" that was yesterday was merely that, a dream. Her stomach growled and she put a hand to it. Boy would she do anything for a good cup of tea and a bushel of apples. She knew it sounded cheesy, but she loved fruits. Since she had started traveling the world with Aang, she had been introduced to many different varieties of food. It was always too cold where she lived to grow that many crops and fruits were fairly new to her. She loved a good apple or a bunch of ripe green grapes. Her fantasies of apples were interrupted by the heavy footsteps of her worst enemy. He held in his hands a blindfold and a basket of fish. He threw the fish at her.

"Eat, we're going to the stream to get you something to drink," he informed her.

After she had her fill of fish, he took her by the hand. She thought he was going to kiss her again, but instead he turned her around and placed the blindfold over her eyes.

"Don't you dare take it off," he growled into her ear.

"And if I do?" she asked boldly.

"You'll pay for it tonight when you're screaming my name," he whispered in her ear. She couldn't hold herself up any longer. Her knees gave and she stumbled. Zuko held her up and led her out the door and to the stream. All Katara could hear for what seemed like hours, was the crunching of leaves.

"We're here," Zuko finally said. Katara frowned. Instead of hearing the steady drip of a stream there was thundering splash that meant a waterfall. She decided to make a break for it, but Zuko was way ahead of her. He grabbed her wrists and held her against his body.

"Let me go you monster!" she cried.

"Glad you remembered," he hissed taking both her hands in one of his. He took a powder out of his pocket and blew it into her face. She coughed at the bad taste and smell of the unknown substance. "That disables your bending."

"Brilliant."

"I want you to take a bath here."

"You must think I'm stupid. I know this is just an opportunity to see me naked!" she snapped.

"Although I admire your quick thinking," Zuko told her, "I wish for my prisoner to be clean. I don't want to stare a dirty person all day."

"Fine, but turn around so I can get undressed."

"You mean disrobed."

"Shut up, and turn around." Katara made sure he was completely turned around before slowly slipping her white robe off. Zuko looked around at her as soon as he felt her eyes leave him. He stared at her perfect body hungrily. He would have to have her soon. He quickly turned around when he heard her mutter something.

"Okay," she said. He turned around to see her covering herself.

"Why cover yourself up? You have a nice body; you shouldn't be ashamed of it."

"It's not that I don't like my body, it's just that I'm ashamed of who's looking at it."

"Oh, that one cut deep."

"Turn back around while I get into the water," she commanded. She slipped into the cold water as quietly as possible and began to swim away from Zuko. As far as she could. She found that there was a cavern behind the waterfall.

Zuko turned to see that Katara was gone.

She couldn't have gotten far. She's got no clothes and as far as I'm concerned, she doesn't want to leave me, he thought. He quickly slipped his shirt off and dove into the water.

Katara climbed onto a rock in her hiding place and hugged her knees. She knew Zuko would come looking for her, but she didn't care. She just needed one peaceful moment to think to herself. A moment which she didn't get. She heard someone splashing behind her and it didn't take a wise man to figure out who it was.

"Go away," she said not even looking at him.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, should I start with right now or yesterday?" Zuko looked like he was about to hit her. Instead, he came up beside her on the rock.

"There was something bothering you before I captured you."

"I hate traveling everywhere. Not knowing when you're leaving or where you're going next. It was how I lost my virginity. I thought we were going to stay in a certain place for good, but it turned out we left three days after I gave myself to this guy."

"Who?"

"A powerful earth bender," she simply replied. Zuko slipped into the water once more. He grabbed her hand and pulled her in with him. She didn't even look at him. She couldn't. He lifted her face to his.

"You're beautiful and I hate you."

"Same here," she replied leaning her forehead against his.

"How about we show each other just how much we hate each other right here," he suggested wiggling his eyebrows. She glared at him.

"I really do hate you," she hissed.

"You want me," he stated.

"That doesn't stop me from knowing that I would kill you in a second if asked to," she told him removing herself from his grip and swimming back to the shore. She put her robe back on and heard him behind her.

"Same here," he said in her ear right before he slipped the blindfold over her eyes.