The Midnight Woods

Chapter 4: The Mystics

God… Why more pain? Katara wondered slowly opening her eyes. The first thing she spotted was the last thing she wanted to see.

"What the hell, what was THAT for? When I said I would 'gladly put the burden on you,' I didn't mean I actually wanted to be knocked out." She growled sitting up from her position on the floor.

"Look around you idiot, we're in a cell. I didn't knock you over the head, someone else did and threw us in here." He said looking through the bars. Zuko's arms were crossed over his chest as he leaned casually against the wall.

"Well… Do your fire bending and get us out of here."

"I tried that before you woke up. The bars are made of some sort of heat resistant metal, it'll take something hotter to melt it." He stated keeping his eyes trained on the walls.

"Fantastic, if there was ever a cell mate I wanted to be with it would have always been you." Katara mordantly replied. "Can you at least take the belt off me now?" She asked looking up from her spot on the floor. Zuko snapped his head to her and nodded slightly before quickly taking his strap back.

"Thanks…" Katara said before catching herself. She was thanking him? For tying her up in the first place? Good job Katara, maybe next time you could politely ask him to kill your friend and torment your brother.

Luckily, Zuko didn't seem to notice she even said anything and returned to his position against the opposite wall.

"You're bleeding…" The water bender stated, noticing a long sliver of blood work it's way down Zuko's head. The prince reached up, wiped the blood, and inspected it in his hand before wiping it away. He probably got it when he was knocked over the head as well.

"It happens." He said coolly returning his gaze outside the cell. Katara felt like a fool, here she was trying to TALK to him when she should have been thinking of a way out. Luckily, they didn't have to wait long before someone appeared. Two heavily armed men walked up to the door and unlocked it. Just as Zuko raised his fist ready for a fight an old man separated the two and spoke. His language was something Katara had never heard before but Zuko listened raptly, all emotion devoid from his face.

Probably from years of training. Katara supposed thinking that at the moment, he looked every bit the diplomat he was to become. For a second Zuko looked a bit confused but the puzzled countenance quickly disappeared from his face and he cast a quick glance to Katara. Just like that, the two guards and the man left leaving the cell door open for both of them to exit.

"What happened?" Katara asked standing up. "Can we leave?"

"You won't like it." He replied bitterly.

"Try me."

"We're getting married."

Aang sat down and idly prodded the fire before him with a stick. He wondered if Katara was ok, if she was still alive for that matter. He prayed from the deepest fissures of his heart that she was, not only for her sake, but for his.

Fate was cruel. One moment he was happy with his family and the next he's the avatar waking up only to discover that everything he ever loved and cared for was gone. He was the last of his kind, and it was a burning ache that emptied his soul leaving it black with nothing left to give. For a while his childhood innocence was able to cover up most of the pain but along with the passage of adulthood came the realization that he was completely and utterly alone on this world. The only things he had left were his pet lemur, his flying bison, Sokka and the one girl he ever loved. And just like that, she was gone because of Zuko. The anger building inside Aang's heart enveloped him whole, consuming his thoughts and tuning them black. Her would get his revenge, one way or another. This would be the last time fate took something away from him.

Sokka looked over at his friend, a dark expression painting his face. Every so often the fire illuminated his eyes and for a long time the teen felt the sinister fingers of caution press deeply at the back of his mind. Suddenly the fire flared up and Sokka jumped back shielding his face from the heat. As he rose to look at his friend to see if he was alright dread filled his heart. There, sitting across from him, was Aang, legs crossed with his hands held almost in prayer before him. But the most shocking feature was his eyes, glowing a fierce red behind the now small fire flaring toward the heavens.

"Aang?"

"What?" He answered snapping out of his reverie abruptly.

"You… Never mind…" Sokka said supposing that if he was practicing his fire bending it was probably a good thing.

"What do you MEAN? We can't get married you dumb ass!"

"Would you stop bitching and just LISTEN to me for a moment?"

"Fine.. I want to hear what you could possibly say that will justify this." Katara yelled crossing her arms over her chest.

"That man is a mystic, and his tribe was the one that cursed this forest so that no one would be able to find their home. He knows how we can get out of here and in exchange for our services he'll show us out of the forest.

"Well why do we have to get married?"

"They believe that marriage will keep some ancient spirit from killing their children with sickness. I didn't quite catch everything, I'm rusty in the language. But it was either that or their other condition."

"Which was?"

"Sacrificing ourselves to their god. Lucky for us, they believe that marriage is a form of sacrifice, two individuals becoming one and cutting their ties to their other families."

"Why didn't you just kill them, isn't that your normal route?"

"Are you actually condoning my methods for war in this village of women and children? If you would stop being unreasonable for a minute you would see that I don't want to get married EITHER."

"Don't be a fool, I'm not condoning anything, I just don't want to get married to my ENEMY."

"WAKE UP, life is not all butterflies and rainbows. If you want to get out of here alive just suck up your pride for three seconds and accept the gift they're offering us. All we have to do is pretend we're married for a day and we can GO."

"Don't you mean we can GO to your camp so you can capture my friend?"

Zuko didn't know what to say to that. Of course it was true, he really only needed Katara to capture the avatar.

"Yes."

"Then I'd rather be dead than hand over Aang to the likes of you." She stated emphatically. Zuko clenched his fist tightly, it was a no-win situation... He could either grant Katara her freedom in exchange for her hand so they could leave this place alive or become a sacrifice to some obscure tribe's god, or if they managed to escape that, wander aimlessly in a cursed forest until they died of starvation or god knows what. Why did she have to be so… Stubborn?

"If you become my bride I'll give you your freedom." Zuko said clenching his teeth tightly. Katara looked at him incredulously, how often do you get that sort of offer?

"How do I know you'll keep your word?"

"I…" Zuko thought… What could he do to give her his word? "Here…" Zuko said reaching under his armor, he pulled out a simple gold necklace with a red stone at the bottom, the fire nations symbol was carved into it. He untied the thread, took it off his neck and held it up. "This was my mother's, it means more to me than anything I could possibly own. If I don't keep my word you can toss it." Zuko said walking toward Katara with the necklace in hand. The water bender looked at Zuko skeptically but opened her palm where he almost regrettably placed the jewelry in her hand. The look of pain on his face was enough to convince Katara he would do anything to have it back, even if that meant letting go of his chances for capturing the avatar.

"Fine…" She said placing it gingerly in her pocket. "Once we get out of the forest you have to let me go."

"Fine." Zuko said walking out of the cell.

"Fine." Katara said again walking after him.

AN- I know this chapter was brief but I didn't know where else I could stop it. How do you guys like it so far? Interesting, no? Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm just pouring myself into this story now so everything is coming to me rather quickly. I'm hoping you guys will keep writing reviews, (I like the long ones!)

Again, please send emails to the support staff for the character list! Read the main area of fan fiction for the directions! Sorting out stuff is getting difficult! Again, the rating is going to go up a bit as the action gets a bit lemon scented so take note now if you're not into that.