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Thank you all for the comments! Hope you enjoy the new chapter!
(On With The Story!)
Katara zipped up her backpack after filling it with the fallen papers as her and Zuko began to follow the now sulking Krista. "Well, this is the hallway, the door on your right is Mr. Anderson's room. He's the history teacher." Krista said in a bored tone. Katara was walking in-between the blonde and the Prince, which was basically the reason Krista was a bit pissed.
Krista just seemed to drone on much like the math teacher did according to Zuko. Zuko let out a deep sigh as he tried his hardest to listen, but feared if he did, he's fall asleep while walking, which seemed a bit stupid to do. Zuko listened to the sound of their feet walking across the empty fall and especially to the gentle tapping noise that came with every footstep he took.
Zuko's senses were just as strong as ever with his differencing of sounds and being able to drown out talking and the two remaining people's footsteps to just hear his own. Zuko sighed once again wondering if it had really come to the point where he had to differentiate his own footsteps to relieve some of the overwhelming boredom.
"Zuko?" Katara asked softly when Krista was concentrating on whatever she was saying in terms to the tour.
"What?" Zuko replied as his eyes watched his own feet as if they were had just formed into something very fascinating.
"Is something wrong?" Katara asked as she reached to grab the Prince's hand, but he moved it out of the way before she could make contact with it.
"I'm fine." Zuko replied with no emotion whatsoever. Katara sighed after hearing Zuko's answer, but knew she couldn't really do anything to make Zuko really tell her what was on his mind. As the three teens made their way down their hall, Krista began to walk about a foot in front of the other two. Zuko saw a perfect opportunity to make a move coming up in the next few moments that was too good to pass up.
Without warning, Zuko grabbed the waterbender's hand and pulled her into a forked hallway that was corresponding differently to the rest of how the hallways were manufactured. Katara gasped at Zuko's motion but allowed herself to be pulled in his wanted direction. Zuko felt his back gently come in contact with the hallway's row of lockers, he felt Katara run into his chest a few seconds later. Zuko's hand was holding the back of Katara's head making her lean her cheek against his muscled chest.
Katara's cheeks immediately burned a dark red color at the feel of his muscled chest that might as well have been bare because the thin shirt wasn't leaving anything at all to the imagination. Katara gripped her fists that were lying on his chest on both sides of her head. Zuko sighed deeply in relief after hearing Krista's footsteps grow lighter and lighter as they became more distant.
Zuko gasped when he finally realized that the waterbender was still lying on his chest. After harshly pushing her off his chest without getting any warning, Katara fell hard on her back. Katara groaned in pain when she felt her body hit the hard floor. Tears immediately began to form in her closed eyes as she curled herself into a fetal position on the floor. Zuko's eyes immediately filled with guilt as he seen her pain-filled face. "I…" Zuko tried to say, but apologizing was something he wasn't used to doing, so no words came forth from his parted lips.
After taking a few shaky breaths, Katara sat up and held her left arm and looked down at the large bruise that was beginning to form on her tan skin. "Ouch…" Katara moaned as she ground her teeth trying to drown out the pain that erupted like a wave of fire on her arm. "W-W-hy d-did you do that?" Katara asked with tremors in her voice as she looked up at the Prince with tears still dwelling on the bottom rim of her eyes.
Zuko felt his breath come out shakily from his lips, and truthfully, he had no idea what to say. He had no clue why he established the need to shove her to the floor; but here he was looking down at the only piece of the past he now had. She was injured on the floor as a result of something he had done and seeing her like that produced a large lump in his throat. Zuko slowly knelt down low enough to be able to look into her eyes. Katara looked back into the lake of gold as she tried her hardest to put an end the tears that continued down her face.
"I'm sorry." Were the only two words that came from the Prince's lips, but for some unexplained reason, that was enough for her. After a few shaky sighs, Katara nodded in response to his apology. After Zuko seen her nod, he stood up and offered his hand to her. Katara looked at the hand being offered to her and after a few moments, she reached up with her uninjured arm and positioned her hand in his.
Katara cringed when she realized how wrong it felt. Katara somehow expected his hand to feel wrong, but when it didn't fit, it actually made her sense an overwhelming feeling of sadness. Unbeknownst to her, she had wanted it to feel right, but thoughts like that seemed a bit implausible and she decided she should just accept it. They were enemies, and even in this time, the past couldn't escape how they lived in the time of the warring nations. They would always be eternal enemies no matter how hard it was to acknowledge, it was how it was supposed to be no matter how immature it seemed.
After Katara placed her hand in his, Zuko realized from the moment their skin came in contact that they were still adversaries. Zuko felt her soft skin rubbing against his dry skin that was the result of the training with his element over the course of his life. Katara's hands were the result of working with her natural element that gave life and softness to anything it touched. They were too different and even in this time; it was still a stone-hard fact. Zuko swallowed the lump in this throat and against something he couldn't quite place, he gripped her hand and pulled her to her feet.
During their silence, so many questions were still yet unsorted as Zuko tried to decide what their next move should be. So many realizations had to be solved, but right now, they had to focus on the bigger picture of getting back home as impossible as it may seem. "We have to get back to where we're from." Zuko said plainly breaking the thick silence.
"How?" Katara asked before taking a deep sigh.
"I don't know, but we have to find a way. I don't know how much more of this I can take." Zuko explained as he placed his hand on his face before running it over the top of his head and to his queue. "Damn it." Zuko growled in frustration as he pulled at the fabric keeping it up so hard that it ripped and his coal black hair fell from its holdings and fell down just below to the tip of his back.
"What if we can't go back?" Katara asked trying to ignore the anger in the young man's voice.
"I'd rather have died on any battlefield in our time then have to stay here much longer." Zuko replied under his breath as his hand fell to his side. Katara heard what the Prince said and tried her hardest to keep her tears at bay. Katara turned her head away from him and her eyes settled on the white polished floor and not so much on the Prince in front of her. Katara's feet shuffled nervously on the flooring as she waited for Zuko to speak again, but she'd have to keep waiting because Zuko wasn't planning on speaking anytime soon.
Zuko's eyes were focusing on the floor as well. Seeing his reflection in the pallid floor sickened him to no end. The disfiguring of the scar on his face that was scarcely covered by a pair of dark cheap glasses wasn't going to change the person who was behind them. A Fire Nation Prince that was stuck in 1,800 years after he should have ceased to exist. This new world was alien territory to him and the girl and Zuko never really cared that much for any situation that he didn't have a way out of.
For some reason, Zuko wasn't upset with the girl even if she did irritate the hell out of him. To tell the truth, he actually was pretty relieved to have her with him then go it alone, which was completely against anything he ever proclaimed about his dignity. Finding a way home was his main priority, but for now, what did he expect to really do about it? Finding an ancient spirit in a world where everything seemed to be twisted and turned upside-down wasn't a simple task and blaming the waterbender wasn't going to help them get back home any sooner.
The frustration was daunting for both of them, but it seemed to affect Zuko more because that's just the way he's always been and Katara doubted he ever would change. "Zuko?" came Katara's gentle voice before she placed a tender hand on his shoulder hoping he wouldn't slap it away.
He didn't.
Zuko's eyes pulled up from the floor and onto Katara's sorrowful face. Zuko didn't say anything to cue her that it was okay to talk. He was just waiting for her to continue speaking of whatever she started talking about. "Listen, I don't know how to get back and I highly doubt we can figure out a way in the amount of time you want to. So, please…" Katara continued in a swift whisper as her hand gently grasped Zuko's thickly muscled shoulder.
"Please what?" Zuko asked in an emotionless tone as he really started to despise the way she was treating him even if she did absolutely nothing wrong.
"Please don't say those things…" Katara whispered in an even lower tone in response. Katara tried to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill, but as hard as she tried, she felt the moisture in her eyes getting close to dripping over her lower rims.
"Why not? What do you care?" Zuko growled before he finally struck her hand off his shoulder and began to turn away from her.
"Because you're all I have left!" Katara shouted loudly before she ran toward the Prince and wrapped her arms tightly around his taut waist. Katara felt the tears start trickling down her tanned cheeks as she felt his warmth against her body. Zuko flinched when he felt the girl wrap his arms around him. Zuko was about to push her off of him like before, but when he noticed the large bruise on her arm he had given her earlier, he hesitated to the point he decided not to do it.
Zuko allowed her to continue to embrace him as he felt a large sigh come deep from his throat and knew how alone she must feel. She didn't have her brother or the bald monk she doubtlessly had been accustomed to seeing and traveling with every day for about an entire year. Then in the blink of an eye, she was trapped with someone like him. To her, he was an enemy who had been pursuing them halfway around the world since they met each other. Zuko knew shy he wasn't pushing her away. It wasn't just the astonishing shame he had for hurting her earlier when it wasn't her mistake to begin with, it was because he felt precisely the exact way she did.
Zuko missed his uncle; he wouldn't contradict that. His uncle was the only one that had ever shown true love to him; his uncle not being here to push and encourage him at every dire turn was going to be difficult to get used to. But the most punishing fact was that he might never see his uncle again but even considering that built a pain in his heart that was all too familiar much like the day he had lost his mother. Zuko was brought out of his thoughts when he felt the waterbender suddenly squeeze his waist slightly tighter.
Zuko looked down to perceive the crown of her head as it was leaning up against his chest. Zuko now had to accept that she was the only thing he had left for now and perhaps even forever if they never get back. He didn't really enjoy it being that way, but there was no amount of him denying that fact that would change anything. He was going to have to live with it and as long as they were in this together, maybe it somehow would work out. Besides, was having her here with him such a really dreadful thing?
Zuko's eyebrows furrowed as he continued to look at her. She wasn't like any other woman he had previously met. This girl was strong-willed and wasn't willing to give up anything that meant something to her or to anyone else for that matter. She was very determined to help the Avatar and wasn't about to let anyone in their way from saving the world. Her fighting skills weren't bad either. She was actually a very talented and powerful waterbender as well as a passionate fighter and advisable foe that wasn't like the frightened child he had expected her to be when they first met.
Zuko never really took an interest in women because the ones that were provided in the Fire Nation palace were either dangerous firebenders with anger issues or clingy concubines who did nothing but try and get you into bed. But now as he was looking at the young woman holding him securely around the waist, he noticed how attractive she was. Long braided hair, athletic body, sapphire eyes, dark skin, and as he took in a deep breath, the slight smell of flowers filled his senses.
It wasn't just her physical beauty that made her attractive though. Although she was a very skilled and precise in her waterbending, the thing that Zuko noticed about her was her gentleness. He noticed that she was always very nurturing and encouraging to everyone she met even if that meant someone like him. Zuko then focused on the feeling of her wrapping her arms around his waist and wondered if this is what it actually felt like to be cared by a woman other then the lingering love of his mother.
The emotions that were coming from her couldn't be phony, so he knew she actually cared and seemed genuinely affected about the comments he had made earlier. Perhaps she was truly glad he was here. After comprehending that, Zuko let out a deep sigh before closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around the waterbender's body as he buried his face in her silky locks. Katara didn't seem to mind, so Zuko didn't pull away. Zuko held her and took in her heavenly scent knowing maybe being stuck with her wasn't as bad as it may have seemed initially.
Many thoughts surfaced about their quick and hasty actions, but the most provoking one was perhaps if they stopped to fight for even a moment, maybe they could have realized the feelings that they were sensing right now. Standing in the quiet hall still in a warm embrace was something they both never imagined they'd be doing. Especially with each other. Zuko and Katara took a deep breath simultaneously as they both continued to wonder what had just transpired, but right at this second, they really didn't seem to care.
(To Be Continued…)