Chapter 7: Secret Protector
Finally, after seeing so much destruction, Katara cried out as loudly as she could, thinking of the one and only thing she could say to call Aang back from the avatar state...
"Aang! Stop it! Your scaring me!" Katara cried frantically...
That was all it took for Aang to come back... But instead of rushing to his side like Aang usually remembered her doing after he came back from the avatar state, she rushed to Zuko's side instead...
"Zuko!" Katara said worriedly, "Are you alright?! "
"Yes... " Prince Zuko said standing... " Thank you..."
Katara blushed and looked away...
"Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!" Sokka yelled angrily, "Why are you protecting him Katara?! He's the enemy!"
"I know what you are thinking..." Iroh said casually walking over, "But your mistaken... Katara came running into our camp, scared and alone... Prince Zuko was concerned about her and even offered to take her back and help her find you guys... But she refused..."
"But... Why?!" Aang asked, the hurt and confusion evident on his face...
"I think I can answer that..." The big guy with long brown hair in a braid said angrily, "She was attacked..."
"What do you mean, attacked?!" Aang asked worriedly...
"My name is Tornock... Katara came running into our camp with tears running down her cheeks, and crying... Something had truly frightened her..." Tornock said gravely.
"I don't get it though..." Sokka said skeptically, "Katara was always much braver then the rest of us during battle... She's never been afraid of anything! Why would one little attack scare her so badly?!"
Quick as lighting, before even Tornock could think to do it himself, Prince Zuko shot across the clearing and grabbed Sokka by his throat,cutting off his air supply!
"Listen! You sorry excuse for an older brother!" Prince Zuko growled menacingly, "If you had stayed behind to protect your little sister instead of running to safety with the avatar, the blue spirit wouldn't have found her the way he did!"
"Wha?! What do you mean?!" Sokka gasped in shock...
"The Blue Spirit told me how he found her..." Prince Zuko said angrily...
"How did the Blue Spirit find her?!" Aang asked worriedly.
"No!" Katara cried out desperately, "Please... Prince Zuko?!"
"I'm sorry Katara... But your friends and your brother need to know..." Prince Zuko said softly, " The Blue Spirit told me that when he found her, she was naked, beaten, and bloody and the Fire Nation Admiral was about to rape her... That's when the Blue Spirit sprang into action and defeated him... He then took care of her for three days... But then, when she woke up, the Blue Spirit decided to go and find something for her to eat... That's when she became afraid to be alone and came running into my camp..."
Sokka grew silent, so Prince Zuko released him and waited until the information he'd given to them finally sank in... Suddenly, Sokka snapped his head over in Toph's direction and called her to attention...
"Toph... Please... Tell me he's lying..." Sokka said as his eyes grew hot with angry tears, "Please tell me my sister didn't really go through something that horrible..."
At that moment, Katara sank to her knees and began to cry...
"I'm sorry Sokka," Toph said, her voice breaking, " Prince Zuko is telling the truth..."
Prince Zuko ignored all the others and walked over to where Katara sat crying and gently placed his arms around her... When Zuko gently brushed her tears from her eyes, Katara laid her head on his should, her arms tentatively encircling his neck...
"Thank you so much... For everything... I feel so safe with you..." Katara sighed, "Even though we're supposed to be enemies... I feel safe around you, just as I did with the Blue Spirit..."
Suddenly, there was a huge roar and a fire ball slammed into the ground a few feet from the camp site! Prince Zuko was on his feet in an instant and shouting commands to his men!
"We're under attack!" Prince Zuko shouted angrily, " Get ready for battle!"
"Zuko! We can help! What do you want us to do?!" Aang asked worriedly.
"No! You and your friends need to get her out of here now!" Prince Zuko said angrily.
"But... " Aang began but Zuko cut him off...
"It's admiral Zhou and his men! Get Katara out of here now!" Prince Zuko commanded, " She is the one he's after! Leave! NOW!"
Just then, they heard a dark laugh and turned to face an evil looking man with a dark smile on his face...
"You need to leave my camp Zhou... Your not welcome here!" Prince Zuko said angrily, " Your not welcome here!"
"Tsk tsk tsk... You think I want the avatar... Is that it?" Admiral Zhou asked with an ugly smirk plastered on his face, "The truth is, I don't care at all about capturing the avatar... The one I want... Is the water tribe girl... Hand her over to me and I'll let you keep your avatar... "
"Avatar... When you see me attack him... Take Katara and your friends... And run... " Prince Zuko said angrily breathing out smoke...
Aang nodded and went to Katara, who was huddled by a tree in fear...
" Katara... Katara!" Aang shouted worriedly...
"Huh?!" Katara gasped trying to pull away...
"We have to leave Katara!" Aang said worriedly, "That man is after you!"
Aang called Sokka over when Katara refused to move and Sokka came over and quickly scooped her up into his arms... Once they caught Toph and called Appa, it was only a matter of seconds before the admiral turned his attention to them...
"Ah... " Admiral Zhou sighed, "There's my little rare flower... I've been looking for you... "
"Stay away from her!" Aang said bravely.
"Or what?!" admiral Zhou said laughing darkly, "You'll blow me away?! Please?!"
Suddenly, admiral Zhou did a series of quick jabs, leaving Aang limp and unconscious...
"Behold... The world's last hope for peace... Nothing but a pathetic weakling!" admiral Zhou sneered...
"Don't you dare touch her!" Sokka shout angrily, " Stay away from my sister!"
Sokka charged at admiral Zhou, attempting to hurt him and failing miserably... With just the wave of his hand, admiral Zhou summoned a fire blast, instantly engulfing Sokka in an inferno of flame... Sokka screamed in agony, luckily, prince Zuko was quick to use his own fire bending to put out the flames... Unfortunately, Sokka was still badly burned and prince Zuko ordered Li to take Katara and the others far away from the battle on the avatar's bison...
"Li... Take them and get them to safety... " Prince Zuko ordered, "I'll take care of Zhou..."
Katara cried as she watched the flames and cried for her brother who was severely injured because he chose to protect her... Li went over to her and gently picked her up... He then called the avatar's bison and gently laid Katara in the saddle, followed by the avatar and then he carefully carried her brother to the bison as well... Last but not least, he helped the beautiful blind earthbender named Toph into the saddle...
"Prince Zuko asked me to see to it that you and your friends get away from here safely... Is that OK with you?" Li asked respectfully.
"Yes! Of course! " Toph said in relief...
Katara, weak and terrified, worked up the courage to crawl over to Aang and Sokka and gently hugged both of them...
" I'm so sorry... " Katara said sadly, "It's all my fault... "
(Zuko... ) Katara thought to herself worriedly, (Please... Stay safe... )
Back at the camp, prince Zuko stood, ready to face admiral Zhou, wanting to keep the filthy animal away from Katara at all cost...
"You cost me my prey... Your highness... " admiral Zhou said with venom in his voice...
"You cost me mine first... " Prince Zuko said angrily.
Admiral Zhou laughed and walked away from prince Zuko...
"Wait! Where are you going?!" Prince Zuko asked angrily.
"Hunting..." admiral Zhou said laughing darkly...
And just like that, he was gone...