Chapter 7: Finding Appa

Katara

Without leads and without the help of Zuko, Katara wandered the city, hanging their lost posters for Appa. Aang grew increasingly desperate by the hour and spent nearly every hour flying over the city, blowing on his bison whistle. Katara listened to him pace the house all through breakfast and into the morning while they prepared for the day. She herself failed to sleep the night before, thoughts on her spar with Zuko and her own anxiety over Appa.

Katara remembered the look of regret on Zuko's face when he left the old stable following his victory. She wondered what stopped him when he so clearly wanted to help her find Appa. She kicked herself in the butt for blowing the fight, wishing she could go back and switch her strategy. She could have beat him, then he would have been forced to help…Deep in her thoughts, she didn't expect to hear her name called from across the street.

"Katara! I think I can help you." She turned, frowning, unable to recognize the sound of the newcomer. Her mouth fell open at the boy standing before her.

"Jet!" Immediately, she uncorked the canteen at her waist and flung a whip of freezing ice towards him.

"Katara, wait, I've changed!" Jet called, as he attempted to dodge her attack. She responded by drawing the water from a nearby canal into an intimidating wave. Jet's eyes widened and he turned heel and attempted to run, but Katara's wave washed him up against the surface of a nearby wall.

Staring at his rather handsome face, corn stalk hanging out of his worried mouth, Katara felt a flash of rage and embarrassment. "Tell it to some other girl, Jet." She threw a number of ice daggers his way which he used his dual hooks to block. While Jet proved a very good fighter, Katara noticed how he couldn't wield his dual hooks with the same grace or efficiency as Zuko wielded his dual blades. Blushing even more realizing she was comparing Zuko to Jet, she threw a second round of ice daggers which hit their mark nailing him, again, to the wall of the building.

"Katara, what's going on?" Katara glanced behind her to see Sokka, Toph and Aang rushing down the street towards her.

"Jet's back," She snapped towards her brother, eyes narrowed at where Jet stood still pinned to the wall.

"But we don't even know why he's here," Sokka attempted to soothe her reaching out with one hand.

"I don't care why he's here! Whatever the reason, it can't be good." Katara narrowed her eyes towards her brother, angry he didn't immediately share her disdain for the man frozen to the wall.

"I'm here to help you find Appa!" said Jet, allowing a lost Appa poster to unroll from his hand.

"Katara, we have to give him a chance," said Aang softly, eyes locked on the image of Appa printed across the paper in Jet's hand.

"I swear I've changed, I was a troubled person and let my anger get out of control, but I don't even have the gang anymore. I've put all that behind me."

"You're lying," Katara accused, but with the fight fading from her voice.

Toph pushed past her and placed her palm against the wall next to Jet's body. "He's not lying," Toph confirmed.

"How can you tell?" Asked Jet, surprised.

"When you lie, your body has a physical response. He's telling the truth." Toph explained, turning her head meaningfully towards Katara. Katara pursued her lips knowing she was insinuating to when she'd argued to allow Zuko and his uncle stay in the city.

"Fine, but we're not letting you out of our sight!"

She heard Toph snort behind her and mutter, "Heard that one before."

…

"This is the place I heard about." Jet explained. The group had followed him across the Lower Ring to an abandoned warehouse reminding Katara strongly of the stable where she and Zuko dueled the night before. "I work nearby, two people were talking about some big, furry creature they had. I figured it must be Appa."

Katara narrowed her eyes, examining the large, empty room and boarded windows, worried Jet led them to a trap.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Toph's shout, "He was here!" She spun around to see Toph holding a clump of soft, white fur in the air triumphantly.

Aang nearly flew across the room beside her, "We missed him," He gasped, taking the wad of fur from Toph.

"They took that big thing yesterday," an old man with a large broom appeared through a back door, shuffling along while he wiped the floor, "Foreman said some rich, royal type out on Whale Tail Island bought him up. I've been cleaning up fur and, ugh, certain other leavings all morning."

"We've got to get to Whale Tail Island!" Aang explained, then looked to where Sokka was unrolling his map, "Where's Whale Tail Island?"

Sokka frowned from behind the large scroll, "Far, very far," Sokka finally replied, mournfully.

The group sat on the floor of the warehouse, examining the map. Sokka pointed out a curved, white point close by the South Pole.

Katara gasped, "Aang, it will take us weeks just to reach the edge of the Earth kingdom! Then, we'll need to find a boat to bring us to the island."

"I don't care," Aand responded immediately, "We have a chance to find Appa, we have to try."

Frowning, Katara bit her bottom lip. She knew she should tell Aang it was more important to focus on planning for the eclipse, but she also remembered they had agreed to put all plans on hold until Appa was found. "Ok, Aang, you're right, we agreed finding Appa was the priority," She reluctantly said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He smiled warmly towards her, "Thanks, Katara."

Sounding just as regretful as Katara felt, Sokka announced, "Off to Whale Tail Island it is then."

"I'm coming with you!" Jet announced raising a fist in the air to follow Aang and Sokka out of the warehouse. Katara rolled her eyes, "No, not you."

"Why won't you trust me, Katara?" Jet demanded, reminding Katara of another young man in Ba Sing Se. Seeing Jet again should have triggered memories of their intimate moments together, but, for some reason, she could only think of Zuko kissing Jin and the dream she'd had following.

Blushing furiously, Katara made to follow Jet out of the warehouse.

"Another former boyfriend?" Toph smirked beside her.

"What? No!" Katara exclaimed wondering if it was even possible to blush any harder.

"I can tell you're lying," Toph mocked.

The group walked for a time, debating the best way to get from Ba Sin Se to Whale Tail Island, well, mostly Sokka devised the travel plan and they all agreed.

"Jet!" Called a young voice and Smellerbee, one of Jet's ex comrades appeared in the street running towards the older boy and enveloping him in a hug.

"I thought you weren't with the old gang anymore?" Katara asked sarcastically.

Jet's eyes reflected only shock. "I'm not!" He exclaimed staring wildly between Smellerbee and the tall, silent Long Shot who appeared moments later, his signature crossbow hanging over one shoulder.

"How'd you get away from the Dai Li?" Smellerbee pressed on.

"The Dai Li?" Exclaimed Katara, Sokka and Aang in unison.

"Yah, they captured Jet a couple weeks ago!" Smellerbee explained.

"This doesn't make sense," said Toph frowning, "They're both telling the truth."

"Yes it does," Sokka interjected, "They're both telling the truth because they both think they're telling the truth. Jet must have been brain washed by the Dai Li!"

Jet's mouth fell open while everyone's alarmed eyes turned to him.

…

Zuko

He couldn't get Katara's hurt expression out of his head. All night after their duel, he tossed and turned, finally waking before light. Giving up on sleep, Zuko pulled himself off his bedroll and pulled the Blue Spirit mask out from underneath his pillow. He gazed intensely at the face of the mask, an idea forming in his head. Perhaps, it would be a good idea to find the bison. Perhaps, the bison could even be his ticket home to the Fire Nation. Even as the idea passed through his mind, Katara's face floated in his vision and his stomach clenched in guilt.

Stop, she is not your friend. Get the bison. Get home. Reclaim your honor and your throne.

Still not entirely certain what to do once he located the bison, but entirely confident he could find the bison, Zuko donned his Blue Spirit mask for the second time in twelve hours. Formulating a plan, Zuko also picked up an extra long-sleeved tunic and pair of gray pants. Zuko slid out the sliding door of their small apartment, listening to the droning snores of his uncle. Collecting a number of long branches and fishing some armfuls of hay from a roadside cart, Zuko began to set up for the first phase of his plan to find Appa.

Zuko pressed his lips together as he built the scarecrow. The wobbly thing threatened to fall at the slightest breeze, but Zuko figured it wouldn't get much better. Placing the mask more loosely over his face than usual, he crouched in the shadows of a muddy side alley, waiting for an unfortunate Dai Li agent to pass.

While he waited, he attempted to shake Katara's face from his mind, disturbed from thinking of her at all. Sparring her made him feel…alive, for the first time in weeks. Utilizing his bending and thinking like a warrior gave him a piece of himself back in a way difficult to describe. And there was Katara herself, his sworn enemy, seemingly coming to trust him, even asking him to help her and the Avatar. The thought made him shake his head. How foolish of her to trust him so quickly. But, then again, didn't he feel a bond forming between them, as well? Gritting his teeth, Zuko reminisced on his dream of them together, when his brain replaced the Earth Kingdom girl, Jin, with Katara. He shivered against the cool night air and heat spread throughout his body without command, as if imagining what it would feel like to actually have the waterbender pressed against him.

He waited approximately an hour, shooting nervous glances towards the sky, worried he would have to give up on his plan until the next night. Finally, an unsuspecting Dai Li man walked past, moving leisurely with hands folded behind his back. Even his small, confident steps felt conceited to Zuko. After the man passed, placing a good ten feet of distance between them, Zuko sprang to his feet, sprinting at the man's back and knocking his shoulder as he ducked to the side. "Get out of my way, Skinny!" He shouted brusquely.

Zuko felt the man's glare on his back and knew the man took off after him. He sprinted back towards his Blue Spirit scarecrow, ripping the mask off his face. With trembling fingers, he managed to attach it to the flimsy, straw face. The Dai Li agent flung himself around the next corner, just as Zuko managed to crouch back into the shadows. Slowly, he crept along the wall of the alley, watching as the silly earthbender focused his rage on the scarecrow figure across from him. Sliding his dual blades from the sheaths at his back, he approached the Dai Li agent from behind.

"If you don't want to end up like him," He indicated towards the headless Blue Spirit scarecrow, "you'll do as I say."

…

Turned out, the bison could be accessed quickest through a specific southern entrance, at the mouth of Lake Laogai. Luckily, the water barely lapped over the center of the wide, circular entrance. Zuko struggled to distinguish the door from the rest of the muddy lake water, but, in the end, managed to locate the overly large pothole. Spending a good ten minutes, Zuko pushed and pulled at the heavy earth door wishing, only once in his existence, he was an earth bender. Finally, the earthen floor door cracked open wide enough to allow him to slip through.

He fell, without much grace, onto the equally disgusting muddy floor inside a vast, cavernous structure. Zuko examined the crudely cut dirt walls surrounding him and felt a bit intimidated by the darkness of the cave. Determining he already broke every Ba Sing Se law possible, Zuko lit a small flame within his left palm to lead him in his search. He didn't need to search long before he heard the long, low moans of which could only belong to a huge creature. Zuko approached the cell door, wondering how the Dai Li got such a huge creature inside the cage in the first place, and forced the door open.

Appa, as Katara called him, groaned and growled at the sight of an unfamiliar young man in a mask. Zuko winced inwardly, wondering what harm or torture the Dai Li subjected the creature to during his captivity.

"Not who you were expecting? Well, you're mine now." Zuko muttered at the beast, even in that moment, wondering what he was doing inside that cell.

Inner thoughts debating his next move, Zuko realized a moment too late the door to the cell swung open behind him. Flashing his swords over his head, Zuko spun to meet his new opponent. His mouth dropped behind his mask as he surveyed the new arrival.

"Uncle?"

"So, the Blue Spirit, I wonder who could be behind that mask?" His uncle tugged at his beard, as if actually debating the answer to his own question.

Zuko sighed, "What are you doing here?" He pulled the mask off his face and locked eyes with his uncle, not even wondering how his uncle found him. Of course his uncle had known all along he was the Blue Spirit, Katara was right.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing." His uncle continued, his voice uncharacteristically commanding. "What do you plan to do now that you found the Avatar's bison? Keep it locked in our new apartment?" He cocked his head towards Zuko, while surveying the large creature still shivering and growling behind him.

"First, I have to get it out of here," Zuko looked away from his uncle and gritted his teeth. Couldn't his uncle see he had no idea what to do? That he didn't even know what he wanted to do? But, apparently, Uncle Iroh knew him better than he ever suspected, because his next words shook him to his core.

"And then what? You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole. If his friends hadn't found you, you both would have frozen to death!"

Zuko winced at the harsh words, "I know my own destiny, Uncle!" He attempted to counter.

"Is it your own destiny, or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force upon you? I'm begging you, Prince Zuko, it's time for you to look inward. And begin asking yourself the big questions, who are you and what do you want?"

Zuko looked between his uncle and the large, white beast ahead of him. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to focus. You want your honor, you want your throne, your honor and your throne. But the words rushed objectively through his head, as if they held no true meaning to him after all.

…

Katara

Jet's body lay crippled below her outstretched palms. He and Aang had detached from the group minutes prior during the battle underneath Lake Laogai to pursue Long Feng, head of the Dai Li. All the while, Jet fought alongside them and, well, bravelly, even following Aang to help him bring Long Feng to justice. Now, he lay broken underneath her hands. It would take hours of one on one healing for her to even begin to reverse the damage to his internal organs inflicted by the killer blow from Long Feng.

"You guys find Appa, we'll take care of Jet, he's our leader," Long Shot shocked every single person present by speaking.

Katara wanted to protest, her nature demanded to heal the broken body in front of her. But Jet's hand travelled to clasp her own, "I'll be okay, Katara, go."

Aang's eyes travelled to meet her own. She realized in that moment, her decision to follow the Avatar across the world was not made lightly. He needed her at that moment, even as another lay dying in front of her, but it was to Aang her primary loyalty resided. She needed to go with him and she needed to help him find Appa, even if it would kill her. Swallowing painful tears, partly for Jet, and partly for her own moral freedom, she nodded.

She, Aang, Sokka and Toph sprinted from the long corridor where Jet lay and began flinging open cell doors at random. They may have won the battle with the Dai Li for the time being, but they entertained no desires to linger long in the secret, horrible place beneath the lake.

Finally, Toph called breathlessly, "In here!"

The group burst into a particularly large cell with vaulted ceilings and massive iron chains, cast broken and twisted against the cell walls. Tufts of thick, white fur stuck to every surface of the room and the overwhelming smell of an extremely large mammal confirmed their suspicions.

"Those are certainly…Appa leavings," Sokka confirmed, looking like he was trying not to be sick.

"Long Feng must have got to him before us!" Aang called out, panic and pain present in very syllable.

Katara's first instinct was to agree with the assumption, however a second, and more likely the more she considered it, possibility ran through her head. Excitement flooded her body and she grabbed Aang by the arm, "I don't think Long Feng got him, come on!" Pulling Aang behind her, Katara the lead the group out of the cell sprinting towards the exit. Out of breath, Katara motioned for Toph to lift them out of the underground tunnel system.

Toph raised her arms, pulling a sheath of circular earth up from the ground and propelling up to the surface of the lake. "What's going on, Katara?" Aang demanded. "We need to find Appa!"

Katara used her hand to shade her eyes, scanning the skies for any sign of flying bison. "Katara…" Sokka picked up where Aang left off, searching for an explanation to her bizarre behavior.

Before Katara had the opportunity to argue, a series of deadly rock fists rocketed at the group. Toph bended an earth shield to protect them, and Katara and Aang moved simultaneously, waterbending towards the surface to counter the Dai Li. Moving as a team, they attempted to batter back the troop of Dai Li blocking their way. But more agents slid down the steep walls, throwing aggressive rock formations at the group of four. Toph valiantly protected herself and the rest of the group from too much serious harm, but, eventually, the Dai Li surrounded them on all sides.

For a horrifying moment, Katara felt a twinge of doubt twist in her stomach. Maybe her assumption underneath Lake Laogai was wrong. She looked, again, towards the sky, her throat tightening with fear and disappointment. "Give yourselves up," Long Feng commanded, approaching their group with a sinister smile across his lips and hands folded behind his back. He faced away from the sun and shadows settled over his face.

Keeping her gaze skyward, Katara noted a dark, black dot cross the surface of the sun. She gasped and relief spread from her fingers to her toes. Sure enough, the small, black dot approached growing in size and revealing itself as a giant sky bison.

Appa roared, bludgeoning through the earth walls formed by the Dai Li and knocking some dozen agents into the lake. Long Feng turned sharply to see the bison approaching him and rage curled across his face. Appa responded in like, roaring at the man, bending over and grasping Long Feng's leg in his teeth and tossing him forcefully into the lake to follow his Dai Li agents.

"Appa!" Aang exclaimed, flying inches off the ground to reach Appa quickest. He hugged the bison and tears streamed down his face. Katara felt her own eyes water as she buried her face in Appa's thick, white fur.

"Thank you, Zuko," She whispered into Appa's soft body.

…

Zuko

Zuko pulled himself out of the earth door and turned to help pull his Uncle up after him. His hands clutched into fists, he looked to the sky where Appa flew headed away from Ba Sing Se. He could hardly make out the small figures on his back, but his heart clenched strangely when thinking one of them was Katara. He stared at his reflection in the Lake Laogai water, eyeing the scar across his face. He hated looking at and winced thinking of his own shame. He'd given up his, most likely, last opportunity to capture the Avatar. And, by freeing Appa, given the Avatar and his friends the perfect means to get hundreds of miles away from Ba Sing Se. He swallowed thickly, thinking he wouldn't see Katara again, maybe, not for years, or, maybe not ever.

His uncle placed a comforting hand on his shoulders. "You did the right thing, Prince Zuko." Zuko nodded, knowing the truth in his uncle's words. His gaze switched from his own reflection to the Blue Spirit mask clutched in his hand.

"Leave it," his uncle prodded softly, "When committing acts of good, you should show your face."

Zuko closed his eyes tightly and, feeling as if he were dropping a piece of himself versus a wooden mask, he allowed the Blue Spirit to slip through his fingers into the lake below.

Thank you for all viewers and reviewers! I know this chapter followed the actual episode very closely, but I thought the character development, especially for Zuko, was important for the rest of my Zutara story. As far as the romance between the two, this won't be a slow burn, but I also do appreciate the comments not to rush things because I do like taking some time for the characters to get closer and tensions to build. Disclaimer: Avatar doesn't belong to me :)