Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor do I own Tangled

Katara couldn't see Lee in the darkness of the tunnel, but she listened to the soft sound of his footsteps to follow him through. After a few moments, she could see a bit of light at what she guessed was an opening.

When the pair neared the end, she watched as Lee pushed aside the green vines that hung from the cliff wall. The light blinded her at first, but her eyes soon adjusted.

Katara stopped to look back. The entrance to the tunnel could not be seen once the vines were back in place. It looked like an ordinary cliff wall. No wonder no person ever found her tower. Any passerby wouldn't notice it.

She looked the red figure in front of her. Just how did he find the tunnel that led to her tower?

The waterbender quickly lost her train of thought as she finally realized she was really, truly free. She turned back around to survey her surroundings.

They were in small clearing surrounded by a lush forest with so many shades of green she couldn't count them all. It was refreshing to see something different from what she'd stared at through a window all of her life. She marveled at trees and flowers and smiled at the loud chirping of birds as they flew above.

So this is what Grandmother sees, she thought to herself.

Her chest suddenly hurt as a horrible feeling consumed her. Her heart felt like it was being pulled in a thousand different directions.

Grandmother.

Katara knew Hama wouldn't never approve of what she was doing. Leaving the tower with some stranger? She couldn't begin to imagine how angry the older woman would be.

But what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, right?

Right?

Katara stopped walking. She felt tears swell in her eyes. She tried to cover her mouth to keep any sound from coming out, but a sob managed to escape from her lips.

Hearing the noise, Lee glanced back at her. She watched as he made a look of pure disdain and stopped walking, then turned around to face her.

"What are you doing?" she heard him say.

Covering her face with her hands, she mumbled, "I don't think I can do this."

"What?"

"I don't know if I can do this!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. She began to pace back and forth in the clearing as a tear fell from her eye.

"I'm a horrible person," she said, more to herself than to Lee. "Grandmother would never forgive me if she found out. She's done so much for me, and what have I done? Gone against her back and disobey her!"

As her emotions rose, more tears escaped and were freely cascading down her face. She continued to walk around the clearing, mumbling. She called herself despicable, terrible, the worst granddaughter there ever was, going on an on with as many adjectives as she could.

She stopped pacing when she heard a low chuckle from behind her back.

Katara turned, her hand immediately going to her hips. She saw Lee leaning against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest, face emotionless save for one side of his mouth that twitched as she looked at him.

"Is something funny?" she demanded.

...

Okay, maybe laughing at her wasn't a very good idea. But watching her walk around calling herself names was quite comical.

The waterbender, Katara, now glared cold daggers at him, the kind he'd watched her procure when she had tried scaring him into submission.

Zuko pushed off of the tree, walking to her slowly. Her eyes were red from crying. She seemed to be at war with her mind, a fierce battle that she was trying desperately to win. He was gathering small bits and pieces, like her protective grandmother and this forbidden trip he was now taking her on.

He would never admit it out loud, but the girl intrigued him. She was a mystery, with her talented bending and rapid emotional shifts.

"Where did you learn your bending?" he then asked her.

"You're not answering my question," she frowned.

"And you are not answering mine," Zuko countered. She glared at him for a second, then her face slowly started softening as she gave up.

"My grandmother is a master waterbender. She taught me," she answered.

So, she wasn't alone in that tower. She had a relative with her, one probably of the Water Nation as well. That begs the question...

"Why aren't you two with the one of the Water Tribes?"

The girl looked down, a sheepish blush forming on her cheeks. "I... I've never been outside of the tower."

Zuko didn't know what to make of this new information. Living in a tower, never leaving for... however many years old she was. He studied her young face, gathering that she probably not much younger than him.

"I don't know if this a good idea," he then heard her say.

Watching her uncertainty, Zuko began to form a plan in his mind. He could agree with her, make her see what mistake she was making and take her back to the tower. He'd then get his satchel back and be free from taking her on a ridiculous trip to the south pole.

"Why don't I take you back?"

"What?" she said, looking at him with sort of shocked and confused face.

"You can go back to your tower and not risk your grandmother's unhappiness," he explained. "I'll just take my satchel and go," he said and began reaching for the strap the was on her shoulder.

...

Katara knew what he was doing, trying to encourage her doubts and make her go back just so he could have his satchel.

"No," she asserted, smacking his hand away from her. "I will see those lights."

She was a bit perturbed at what he said, and that he had tried to grab the satchel instead of demanding her to show him where his things were. Could he see through her lies that clearly?

He then growled lowly, scowling as he walked away from her without another word. She stayed still, realizing a second later that she should be following him and jogged to catch up.

Hama would be disappointed, infuriated... But this was her dream. And finally, after so many years, it was going to come true.

…

She followed Lee through the forest, keeping up with his brisk pace for an hour. After that, she felt exhausted, and it was hard to keep up with him.

How did he have so much stamina? She trained rigorously everyday but was now drained of energy.

Katara noticed a few things about Lee as they walked. Like that he didn't talk much. Katara didn't know how one could stay silent for so long when in the presence of someone else. Granted, they didn't really know each other, but talking would be something to pass the time. She had opened her mouth multiple times with the intent of starting a conversation, but each time she imagined his threats from before and quickly shut her mouth.

Lee also made a point to walk in front of her. She had tried once to catch up to him, but he only quickened his pace and led them on a path that they could only traverse in a line. Katara didn't know whether this was because he thought himself superior to her, or if he was just uncomfortable with her company.

Maybe it isn't just me, she thought as she stared at the swords strapped to his back. Perhaps he shied away from people in general. The young man certainly didn't seem like a people person.

Katara noticed the forest becoming less and less dense as they continued on. A half hour later, the trees ended atop a grassy hill. For the first time in almost two hours, Lee stopped walking. Katara noticed his deep breathing. It was first time he had stopped to catch his breath.

She, however, had to sit down. Her knees wobbled slightly as she sat on the grass. Katara was a bit dizzy from her fatigue, but that didn't mean she missed the glare Lee gave her when he at her resting. He said nothing, but she could feel his accusation: weak.

While catching her breath, Katara looked down below. There was town, modest in appearance and size. Every house and building was beige with same dark brown roofing. She could see a good number of people walking the streets. On the other side of the town was the sea. The town's harbor had a dock with a few ships anchored.

"Are we going down there?" Katara huffed as she noticed Lee staring at the town.

The man nodded once. "We're going to need some food and supplies," he said. It was the first time he'd spoken since their conversation in the forest clearing.

He stared down the incline for a minute longer, then started to walk down the slope of the hill. Katara took that as a silent cue to follow. She sighed as she stood up and saw that Lee was already halfway to the town. A simple "Let's go" would have been nice.

When they both reached the street that led into the town, Katara picked up her pace until she was beside him. She walked on Lee's right, matching his stride. Their eyes locked when she turned her head, and she gave him a challenging look. She refused to follow him around, as if she was a slave he her master.

They went past houses and shops, passing a few of the townspeople. They all gave the pair questioning looks. Katara supposed she and Lee stood out, with him wearing red and she in blue. Everyone in the town was clad in neutral browns and tans, sometimes green.

Yet again, Katara questioned what her grandmother had always told her about the world. Her journey through the forest had been uneventful, and other than some staring, these townspeople were not unkind or even hostile toward her and Lee.

For some reason, Katara noticed that Lee kept his head down, hising behind his bangs as they went deeper into town. It must be his scar, she thought. He must be ashamed of it.

The center of the town was a large circle, most likely used for festivals or gatherings. Right now it was being used as market place. Vendors were set up under tents in a square-like shape. Katara made a point to pull away from Lee and go to the market, hoping Lee would follow.

The variety was enormous. There were jewelry stalls, fabric booths, food stands... Katara squealed when she saw the two carts that were filled with books. She looked for Lee, finding him at fruit stand, the vendor looking somewhat frightened. Deciding she could keep an eye on him while shopping, she made her way to the cart.

She was excited as she perused the books, occasionally picking up one with an interesting title. She was reading a page from one of them when she heard a voice.

"Find something you like?"

Katara looked up from the book to see a man well into his forties with a crooked nose and wandering eyes. These must be his books.

Katara smiled and nodded. The man looked at the title of the one she currently held. "Ah, a very good story, in my opinion." He gestured to the other cart. "You might find some that interest you over there, too."

"You have quite a collection," Katara complimented him as she moved.

She had expected him to leave her be, but instead he followed her to the other cart. She could feel his eyes on her as she dug through the stack of books. Her skin crawled; there was something about him that bothered her.

"You know," the man started, "I have a larger selection somewhere else, if you'd like to see it."

"I would. Where is it?" she asked.

"Just down there, at my house," he pointed to a nearby street. "I could take you there, if you'd like."

Katara then felt bad, for she had thought wrong of him. He just wanted to help. Letting her see his large collection was a very generous offer.

"I don't know, she responded. "My... companion... will wonder where I am, and I don't have a lot of time, because you see-"

He waved his hand and interrupted her, "It won't take very long at all, I assure you."

"But I really-"

"Come this way, it's very close," he cut her off. Then he grabbed her wrist and began to pull.

Without warning Katara felt herself get pushed backwards, the man's wrist letting go of her own. She looked up to see Lee's dark head, and heard his low voice.

"She's not going anywhere with you," he said firmly.

Katara could not see the bookseller, but imagined the frightened look on his face as his voice cracked. "I wasn't-"

"No anymore," Lee stopped the man from going on. "Now go."

The waterbender watched the man scurry away, back to his carts. Lee turned to her, scowling.

…

Zuko couldn't believe how naïve she was. The waterbender was lucky he was there.

"What were you thinking?" he demanded.

Instead of answering him, Katara put one hand on her hip and frowned. "You didn't have to do that. He was just trying to"

"Unlike you, I know exactly what he was trying to do," Lee quickly cut her off. "That man was going to take advantage of you."

"For my bending?" she sounded scared, her eyes widening.

"Among... other things," Zuko responded. Could she really be so blind as to not see what that wretched man was really after?

That's right, he reminded himself, she's lived in a tower her whole life. She's never been exposed to these sort of things.

He sighed, exasperated, and shook his head. By coming to her aid, she could have cost him his cover. That man might see his wanted poster hanging around in a few days and report Zuko to the authorities. Then both the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom would be on his tail.

Zuko decided they would have to get back to the forest soon. He couldn't risk anyone else in this town possibly recognizing him.

He turned back to Katara, who looked very... confused.

…

She didn't understand. That man had been so kind... Could he really have had such ulterior motives?

Katara wasn't so sheltered as to not understand what Lee meant by 'other things.' She knew what could have happened, and she shuddered at the thought. Maybe Grandmother was right.

The waterbender knew she was lucky to have Lee there. She would have to thank him.

Katara opened her mouth, but wasn't able to say anything because Lee had already started speaking.

"Don't talk to strangers anymore," he told her, or actually, commanded. "And from now on, you stay with me. We can risk anymore incidences that will slow us down."

She was going to argue with him, was going to make it clear that he was in no position to make orders, but didn't. Katara was more stuck on the fact that he hadn't intervened to protect her. He was more worried about how it would affect their time in making it to the South.

She didn't really know him, and they weren't friends any any means, but it still stung like the bite of a spider wasp.

"Fine," she acquiesced reluctantly. Lee gave her a long look, then turned and went back to the fruit stand he had been at before the incident.

The fruit vendor visibly relaxed when Lee came back with Katara in tow. He eyed the unlikely pair warily.

Katara's mouth watered as she looked at the many different types of fruit. She could only name about five of them. The rest was a mystery, but they looked delicious nonetheless.

With his eyes skimming the fruit, Lee asked the vendor, "Would you happen to know of any neighboring towns with a wider selection of goods?" he asked.

The older man paused and frowned, as if he didn't care to be spoken to by the younger man. "Chin Village is the closest, about ten miles northwest," he responded. "I don't know if you want to go there though. A strange town, that one. Even stranger today, when they have their Avatar day festival."

Katara watched as Lee's eyebrows raised a fraction in interest at the word 'Avatar.'

"Thank you. We will heed your warning," Lee responded politely.

Katara wondered why it interested him so, and told herself she would ask later. She then turned her attention back to the produce being sold.

As Lee picks up some bright red apples and some pale round fruits she didn't know the name of, Katara quickly picked up a waxy orange fruit she had been eying and handed it to the vendor.

Lee then looked at her expectantly. She raised an eyebrow, clueless. He let out a frustrated growl and moved toward her, hands reaching out for the satchel. Katara quickly stepped away.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

"You have the money," he responded, pointing to the bag at her hip. "You might not know this, but in the real world you have to pay for things you want," he sneered.

Katara wrinkled her nose at the insult and glared at the pale man. "How do you know that?"

"Are you saying you haven't heard the jangling every time you take a step?" Lee asked.

She rolled her eyes, sighing as she dug in the satchel and pulled out a handful coins. Most of them were silver, with three copper and two gold. She stared at the small circles, picking out a gold one and turning to the man selling the fruit.

"Will this be enough?" she inquired. Katara couldn't fathom why his eyes were as wide as the good dinner plates her grandmother kept in the cabinet. He nodded dumbly, taking the golden piece from her. His eyes shone greedily as he grinned at the coin.

Lee snatched up their items and walked away. Used to this now, Katara quickly followed and caught up to him.

For some odd reason, she felt warm, like when she would stick her head out of the window in the summer and feel the sun on her face. It didn't take her long to find the source. Crazy as it sounded, Lee's body seemed to emanate heat. She glanced at his face, but he didn't seem to notice the change in the atmosphere.

Perhaps she was just imagining it.

When they were some distance away from the market and closer to the docks, she heard Lee growl, "Why in the name of Agni would you do that?"

He had stopped walking, which went momentarily unnoticed by Katara and she went a few steps ahead. Hearing his anger in his voice, she quickly spun around.

"Do what?" she asked innocently. She really did have no clue of something she had done wrong.

Lee's jaw twitched. With thin lips, he stomped up to her. "You gave him a gold piece! Do you have any clue what you've done?"

He yelled the last part, taking her by surprise. "No, I don't," she responded coolly once regaining composure. "Please enlighten me."

Her tone angered him even further. "Any normal person would have paid twenty copper pieces at most for what we bought," he told her, fists clenched.

"So?"

He made an annoyed sound. "Do you realize how suspicious it is for someone to pay in golden pieces, for fruit no less? Look around," he gestured to the town. "Not one person here even has that much money. Most people in the world don't! You've just put a huge target on our backs!"

Katara sucked in a breath. What had she done? All she did was pay for some fruit. She hadn't known how much the coins were worth! She was raised in a tower, so how could she possibly know the magnitude of such things?

"I... I'm sorry," she stuttered. "I had no idea."

"Clearly," Lee responded flatly with a deep frown. There weren't many people in their vicinity, but he still glanced around them somewhat nervously. "We have to leave. Now."

"But-"

"Now, Waterbender."

She would have fought him, had those words not taken on the tone that they did. Katara wanted to explore more, see the town and its people. But his voice an edge to it, one that sounded a lot like fear.

Closer to the docks, Katara stayed near Lee's side as she peered into dark, suspicious alleyways. She was more cautious about the people around her now because of the man with the books. There weren't many other townspeople around, just a few loitering near the three large ships stopped by the pier.

Platforms were laid from the pier to the opening of two of the ships, inviting people in. Perhaps it was another shop? A boutique of some sort.

Lee must have decided that they were far enough from the town, for he stopped by some rocks near the ocean. Still holding their fruit, he kept one of the small pale ones for himself, then gave her the rest to put away in the satchel. Katara kept the orange fruit she had picked out in her hands.

She sat on the tan rocks, running her hand over the fruit she had picked out, feeling its waxy outer flesh. She did not know its name, nor what it tasted like. She didn't even know how to eat it. Did she have to cut it open to eat the inside? Or just simply bite into it.

Lee leaned against a rock somewhat near her, keeping his distance but still being in range. Katara watched him bite into the round fruit.

"What is that called?" she asked him.

He looked paused, stopping himself from taking another bite. He lowered his hand and looked down at the round thing. "A moon peach," he replied.

She nodded her head. "And... what is this called?" She help up the orange fruit.

"It's a papaya," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

She looked down. Her cheeks colored. "Oh." Katara turned the fruit over, staring at it.

"Here," she heard Lee say. She looked up. He held his arm out, waiting for her to give it to him.

She handed it over and watched as he reached into his boot, pulling out a short knife.

Tui and La, how many weapons did this guy have? Did he really need them all?

Maybe he does need them. How else would he protect himself? she thought. She was convinced he wasn't a bender.

Lee cut the fruit in half to reveal a light orange inside then scooped out the black seeds in the middle. He cut the flesh into small bite sized chunks, then handed her one half, using the shell as a bowl.

The bender quietly thanked him. She lifted the fruit to her nose and sniffed. It had an odd sort of smell, one she wouldn't usually attribute to a fruit.

She looked over to Lee, who ate his half silently. He was eating it, so it was probably okay. Hesitantly, she brought a small piece up to her mouth and ate it.

The waterbender immediately gagged and spit it out. Why was it so soft? She didn't like the way it melted in her mouth. The taste she didn't quite care for either. She shook her head and coughed, then tried to get the taste out of her mouth.

"This is disgusting!" she exclaimed, turning to Lee. "How can you eat that?"

His mouth dipped down as he looked at piece she had spit out as it lay on the ground, annoyed. "You wasted it."

Katara rolled her blue eyes. He was still upset about the gold piece she had used to pay for their goods. She had not only created suspicion, but also wasted a large amount of their money. She still felt guilty for the incident.

However, she was a but perturbed. If gold coins were worth so much, why did the young man have so many? How did he have so many?

"Lee," she started. He slowly turned his golden eyes toward her, then waited, her tone telling him she had a question.

"Gold pieces are very valuable, right? Not many have them? They aren't common with even the middle class?"

He nodded.

"If that's true, how do you have so many?"

His eyes flashed, but he kept his features the same. Without a word, he pushed his body off of the rock and walked away, back to her as he walked closer to the sea.

Katara made a face. What was that about? It was obviously a touchy subject, but she hadn't a clue why.

She sighed. It was perplexing; he was perplexing. Why did he walk around with immense amounts of money, armed with enough weapons for an army? Why did he act so secretive and paranoid? What was he running from?

Katara turned her torso, staring out at the sea, her back to the town. She thought about the crown that was in the satchel. Why did he have that, too?

Lee was hiding something. As soon as she thought that, everything clicked into place. The money and weapons, the attitude, even the enigmatic scar... Lee had a secret.

But what was it?

Had she had time to mull it over, she would have. With the water calling to her, sending calm waves through her body, she could have sat there for hours.

She would have done many things, had a cloth sack not been placed over her head and her vision turned to black.

A/N: Uh oh.

Sorry again for the wait! I really want to update more often, but it's hard to find time in my schedule. Thanks for your patience, everyone!

Thanks for reading, as well!