Chapter 7

Can You Trust Me?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything ATLA.

Self Beta'd

Please let me know if there are errors and I will fix them.

Katara looked up at him expectantly. Her blue eyes urging him to say something.

"I know how you feel." Katara smiled and hugged him tightly. He grimaced at the feeling of warmth spreading through his chest.

Zuko couldn't figure out if he was lying anymore.

He hoped he still was.

Wasn't he?

0~0~0~0~0

"You did WHAT?!"

Sokka was pissed. And given his perspective of the situation, Katara figured he was totally justified. She would have blown a gasket if she saw her brother and Suki walk up to the front door right before dawn, clothes soaked from rain and blood.

Suki slung Katara's uninjured arm over her shoulder and helped her slip out of Zuko's grip and quickly walked her to the main bathroom in the back of the house. Sokka grabbed Zuko by the shoulder and spun him around.

"I told you to keep her safe! What in spirits name were you THINKING?!"

"We ran into some gang by accident. What do you want me to say? She's in one piece isn't she?" Zuko said through clenched teeth.

"Is that your idea of a joke buddy?" Sokka puffed out his chest and flexed his arms before grabbing a hold of Zuko's shirt for added effect. Zuko easily smacked his hands away which only angered Sokka more.

The Water Tribe man was seconds away from starting round one when he noticed Katara and Suki round the corner. Katara had donned one of Suki's blue robes, her hair still soaking wet from her quick rinse and the blood completely washed away.

"It wasn't his fault Sokka. The guys were drunk-"

"GUYS?! You mean there were multiple?!" Sokka turned to Zuko. "It's probably just you and your fire nation luck that almost got Katara killed-"

"Sokka that's enough." Suki warned.

"He's got the work of the Fire Nation all over his face, you think you can just waltz around like that and not get into trouble?!" Sokka gestured to all of Zuko.

Katara stood frozen. Her eyes drifted from Zuko to his scar. The scowl he wore made his face violent and grotesque, his scar only adding to the effect.

"Sokka shut up−"

"While she may have had the plan to bust you out of prison, don't forget you owe me too. I got you out of there and I can easily get you hauled back. It's not like I need evidence to lock you up for a lifetime−"

Zuko stepped forward. "Is that a threat?"

"You betcha." Sokka sniffed as Suki pulled on his shirt. The two were nose to nose.

"Okaaaaaay….. let's take the testosterone down a notch before I start growing a beard." Katara wormed her way in between, her hands on the center of their chests to push the two men away from each other.

To Katara's surprise, Zuko was the first to walk away.

With a growl as he left, Zuko slammed the front door. Katara stared at Sokka something fierce. As soon as the door had closed shut she was on him.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" She screeched.

"Katara I−"

While she would have loved to see her husband get pummeled, Suki quietly sidestepped the siblings and snuck through the door. Grateful for her years in the art of stealth, they hadn't even noticed she was missing. She huffed at the thought of talking to Zuko, but someone needed to tell him the truth. Sokka didn't mean those things, he was just a worried brother who doubled as an idiot…she hoped.

As she shut the door, she just barely caught the glimpse of his black and grey tunic walking down the bend. Quietly, she followed after him and smirked as she heard a muffled but painful howl escape her husband. It must have been quite a hit if she could hear him half way to the dirt road that lead to their village.

She smirked and whispered "go Katara" before turning back to the road.

She had almost caught up to him when she noticed Zuko suddenly diverge from the road that went from their house to the village and turn directly into the forest. She paused when he walked straight into the underbrush, not even pausing to swipe at the foliage. Confusion gripped her chest as she slowed her pace a little.

Suki couldn't help but second guess following him when her brain finally caught up to her. She was about to follow a Fire Nation ex-prisoner into the woods. The pre-dawn light wouldn't give enough light for easy visibility, but curiosity over took wisdom. She took a steadying breath before stepping off the road to follow. Sokka wouldn't be happy that she was following him, but if he was up to something, she needed to know.

The further he fought his way through the forest the more curiosity gathered in the pit of Suki's stomach. She often times had to speed up in order to still have a visual on him. She had no idea where he was going, heck, she wasn't even sure if he knew. She sped up her pace once again when his shirt had completely disappeared through a couple low hanging branches, the dawning light was doing nothing to help her find him. Not to mention she had been whacked and scratched by branches, twigs, leaves and wouldn't ever admit to stumbling over a well hidden branch, if anything Suki was going to make Zuko apologize for making her follow him this far.

She finally got to the hanging willow vines that Zuko had pushed past and threw them aside hastily in anger only to be hit in the forehead by a low hanging branch. She'd had enough of this stupid forest.

"OW! Zuko are you−"

A brilliant burst of orange light lit up the small meadow and in the center of it all stood Zuko. He was looking in her direction, his good eye blown open while the other only marginally, the shock was clear all over his features.

What she was expecting was Zuko. What she wasn't expecting was the fire encircling him.

It felt like time had frozen. The curiosity had turned to fear and it took a second too long for her to gather her wits.

Oh gods. Zuko…is a firebender…

A step back.

He's firebending. He's going to go crazy. They all do in the end. And all they do is kill.

Another step.

He's going to kill me.

One more step.

The baby.

She runs. Her breath was ragged in fear. She needed to get away. She needed to save her baby from the monster.

She let out a scream as a hand wrapped around her arm and another covered her mouth. She wrestled violently in Zuko's arms. She would have smirked if she were in a different position when she heard Zuko grunt from her hit to the ribs. Her elbows flew behind her trying to hit weak spots but he had her arms pinned quickly.

She stilled, waiting for his next move. She tried to scream for Sokka as he dragged her back into the meadow. The hand over her mouth too hot against her face.

"Let me explain!" Suki shook her head. Whispers floated through her mind of the myths and rumors about firebenders needing to kill to survive. She was going to die.

"I know this looks really bad and I know what you're thinking, but please let me explain!"

She squeezed her eyes against the image of her home village burning to the ground. Her own childhood home black and burnt with red flames licking lazily against the foundation posts.

Suki swallowed the lump in her throat and again tried to yank out of his grip. Zuko's hand on her arm had become too hot. She yanked her head away from his hand and yelled.

"You're burning me!" Zuko released his grip on her immediately and she jumped out of reach.

She raised her sleeve a little to find a nice pink mark of a hand on her elbow. It would fade in a day but the skin would be super sensitive for a while.

"Please let me explain! I'm not like everyone else!" She rubbed her arm and stood tall, her face hard. Suki figured if she played her cards right she could bring him down quickly, she needed to protect her jerk of a husband and Katara−

Oh Katara, what have you gotten yourself into…

"Your kind have killed almost my entire family, my village, and almost half this world. Give me one good reason not to kill you where you stand."

Zuko didn't answer for a while, opening and closing his mouth every now and again. She was about to repeat her question when he finally spoke.

"Because I promised Katara I would protect her."

"Cause that means so much coming from a firebender! You think I would even trust you enough to not kill her? Or Sokka, or me for that matter? We're in the middle of a war. I can't trust one of the enemy simply because he said please."

She didn't take her eyes off him as she glared. Her face its own warrior's mask. Paint or not, you can't erase what's in your blood.

He grimaced. "Please hear me out and then decide. I'll even let you end me here if you think it's right."

She narrowed her eyebrows before giving a curt nod. "What's your full name and title?"

Zuko stepped back a few paces and made a formal bow with an open hand over his fist. It was so painfully Fire Nation.

"Prince Zuko, Crowned Prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne." A beat later he rose, standing too perfect. "At least that's what I was called until I had everything stripped from me."

Suki narrowed her eyes slightly in question, her eyes never leaving him. She paused in her movements when she realized she was moving an arm to cover her stomach subconsciously.

Zuko swallowed thickly and continued.

"I was deemed unworthy by the Fire Lord and stripped of my title and rank, and banished." Pain and hatred flooded his eyes. "I fled with my betrothed at the time and left on the first ship that set sail. It just happened to be going to the Earth Kingdom." Zuko closed his eyes, pausing before he spoke. "She was murdered, I was imprisoned and then you and Katara found me. That's my story." He opened his eyes and looked her in the eye. She gritted her teeth and instantly thought his gold eyes reminded her of a rat viper.

"I'm just Zuko now."

She chewed her cheek in thought. "I don't even want to think about the load of crap you just fed me. We're in a war. A war you're father," she jabbed a finger in his direction, "is carrying on. You say you're going to protect Katara but why would a banished Prince want to do that?"

"He stopped being my father a long time ago."

"Answer the question. Why are you even going along with all of this?!"

Zuko barely moved.

Suki didn't like the look he had in his eyes. It was the look of revenge for blood. "Why are you even on our side? You're a bomb waiting to explode, there's no good reason for me to turn around and even let you back into my home."

Zuko crossed his arms. "I am loyal to the Fire Nation, yes, but I am not loyal to it's king." His hand flew out, pointing towards the West. His voice more raspy as he began to yell. "I live for the day he dies. That man has taken everything away from me!"

Suki couldn't help but gulp at his menacing glare.

"I…There is only one man who I truly hate and if what you do brings just an ounce more of misery to his life then I'm all for it. I'm am the very partner that Katara has needed. I owe her my life and until then, I have an unpaid debt to her."

"When Katara finds out−"

"Don't tell Katara." Suki raised an eyebrow. "I'll tell her, but I need you to keep this between us."

"OH no no no," Suki held her hands up, "you expect me to keep the fact that you're a firebender a secret?! You're kind is FAMOUSfor getting murder-happy. There's a reason why there's a law to lock up every firebender! It's not like you guys steal people's socks, you BURN them in their SLEEP−"

"You think I don't know that?! I have it under control!" A flame licked at the edge of his wrist and Suki immediately dropped into a fighting stance and replied in a low voice.

"Yeah, sure you do."

"Look, how long have I been with you guys and how many times have you ever once thought I was going on a murdering spree?"

"Do you want me to answer truthfully?" She spat back.

"UGH! Just…" He growled through his teeth and clenched the hair and the top of his head before letting go. "You two got me out of prison because I had a specialized skill set in my rap sheet. For whatever reason, you need me. If you tell everyone what I am, I won't be of much use to you behind bars."

She gave him a mental high five for figuring out part of the reason why they recruited him.

"But I'm telling you…I'm not like them! I have my bending under control."

The hand at her belly became a fist. Suki was too afraid to turn and run, she's seen one too many times what the burn marks looked like if you were incinerated from behind. Her heart dropped, the baby wouldn't make it if she went into shock from the burns. She couldn't help but slowly block her stomach with her arms as her thoughts got darker.

Zuko held his hands up, his eyes flickering down to her arms. "I would never…trust me…I'm more on your side than you think."

"Don't think for one second that I trust someone like you." Zuko's face remained at an impasse while he held his arms in the air. Katara had told her countless stories of Zuko and her working together and saving each other's butts. Not to mention the fact that he practically was dragging her almost unconscious ass to their house moments ago when he could have done so much worse.

Suki bit her lip. Sokka was going to kill her if he ever found out she kept something like this a secret for even a minute. "I can't believe I'm saying this but…if you don't tell her soon, I will. If you put her in any sort of danger−" He cut her off with a swipe of his arm.

"Then I will let you personally chop my head off." A twig snapped and their heads snapped towards the sound.

"Why are we chopping heads? And why in the world are you guys out here? If you guys weren't yelling half as loud we wouldn't have been able to find you!" Sokka said as he and Katara were walking towards them. The matching blue of their tunics almost a purple in the morning light. Suki took in a shaky breath as relief flooded through her system. She didn't think she'd ever be so happy seeing that dopey-idiotic smile on his face.

Suki looked at Zuko. He was pleading and she knew it. If anyone finds out he's a firebender, he'd be shipped to prison. And with a previous escape he'd barely last a week before they would execute him or worse. She turned to Sokka and grabbed his arm and prayed she wasn't going to regret what she was about to do.

"Oh nothing sweety, we were just talking about cooking techniques and how to properly remove heads of garlic from their roots." She looked over her shoulder at Zuko. "Isn't that right?"

Katara's gaze never left Zuko's face, she didn't think someone so pale could still lose the color in their face. His gaze went to her, she raised an eyebrow at him in question before he nodded.

"Yeah, something like that." He rubbed the back of his head.

Sokka glanced between Suki and Zuko before the two men shared a long hard look. Sokka nodded his head a fraction before turning towards his wife. "Come on Suki, I'm sure the baby is hungry after all this walking."

"Don't start blaming the need to fill the pit of darkness you call a stomach on the baby." Suki mumbled under her breathe. She looped his arm around her shoulders and pressed her cheek against his collarbone. The familiar woodsy and tanned leather smells of him brought her a peace she'd never want to live without. Suki looked towards Katara, "we're going to head home, see you there."

Sokka added in a "don't stay out too long" over his shoulder as they walked back to the road. Katara tried hard to resist the headache coming on as she watched Sokka glare at Zuko for as long as he could before the forest swallowed them up. Katara waited until Suki and Sokka were out of sight before she spoke to Zuko.

"Are you okay? You seem pale…well pale-er. And sorry about that. Suki can be a little overprotective sometimes, but she means well." She toed the moss into the ground as she waited for his response.

"Don't we all?" She looked up at him with a confused look but smiled at him when she noticed he was looking right at her.

"I guess we do." She walked up to him and bumped her shoulder with his, silently asking him if he was really okay. He didn't respond and started walking forward in silence. She couldn't help the smirk come on when he stopped a couple steps ahead to wait for her, not bothering to turn around. He resumed his pace when she was finally at his side, the two of them walking contently in silence back to the house.

0~0~0~0~0

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY! I'M NOT TALKING TO YOU RIGHT NOW!"

Sokka winced as the door to their bedroom slammed in his face. If he had been a centimeter closer the door would have collided with his head. Katara rolled her eyes as she dropped her backpack on the living room floor.

As archaic and demeaning Suki might claim the rules of the Rebellion Army to be, Sokka would not let her out of the house to complete any sort of mission. Never mind that she had to remind him who could beat him into the foundation of their house, once Suki was pregnant, Sokka wouldn't let her pick up a book without freaking out. And now that a mission request for the couple duo to appear had arrived at their house, Sokka was pained to let it fall to his sister and her…he had a few choice words for his description.

Sokka rolled his eyes as he watched Katara and Zuko leave the house. Zuko of course had given him an extra hard Fire Nation-y glare before leaving. His return glare would have been at its most powerful if Suki hadn't appeared in the doorway next to him and scared the daylights out of him. He couldn't help the squeak escape him as the killer glint in her eye flashed his way. She shoved past him and walked outside.

Katara turned back to the house to see Suki emerge and didn't dismiss the cold look Suki threw at Zuko. She couldn't help her curiosity peak when Suki had jabbed a finger in her direction and Zuko acknowledged the gesture. She could clearly see the words "I KNOW" form around his mouth. She quickly looked back down at her bag and pretended to fiddle with it as soon as she sensed Zuko turning to look her way.

The two froze when they noticed that Sokka had both stopped in the entry way to watch their actions.

Suki gave an awkward laugh and launched herself to hug Katara. Katara raised an eyebrow in question at her partner who had of course just ignored her look and picked up their bags to mount them onto B. She squeezed Suki harder before letting go.

"We'll be back soon. Look after that idiot brother of mine okay?" Suki's eyebrow twitched.

"I know his heart is in the right place, but I'm seriously doubting he'll be alive when you come back if he keeps this up…"

"I'll try to be back soon so that I can to do another check up on the baby." Suki nodded and grabbed Katara again in a hug.

"Just be careful." Suki leaned away to looked her in the eye and whispered low, "and watch your back okay?" She couldn't help the uneasy feeling creep up her spine as Suki walked away.

0~0~0~0~0

As Katara and Zuko traveled to their rendezvous point, Katara had started to notice that the days were steadily starting to get longer and definitely warmer as they traveled farther South. Zuko seemed to be in a better mood with the increase in heat while Katara felt like she was going to die of heat exhaustion at high noon if she didn't find a river soon. Heat was definitely not her element and she hated that Zuko looked just as happy in the heat.

It wasn't until later that night until Katara finally drew up the courage to ask what had been on her mind all day.

"So…" she chewed off a bit of her dried mango to calm herself, "the other morning, you and Suki were talking about something when you stormed off. What were you talking about? It seemed pretty…intense…" She held her breath hoping she didn't just shoot an arrow at her own foot.

"It's nothing." The tone in his voice indicating he had no desire to talk to her and increased his pace.

"Well it seemed like a big deal." She paused, "you know…I don't know what's going on between you two, but Suki isn't the type to run off with someone else−"

"Stop talking before you say something stupid." His hand had stopped inches from her mouth just in case. "That isn't it at all. I don't…" he growled through his teeth. "I may be from prison but I'm not that desperate for attention. Holy spirits…" He whirled around and walked away from her.

"But you are saying that there is something between you." He stopped in his tracks.

"If you're trying to accuse me of adultery−"

"I'm not even talking about that!"

"Then what the hell are you going on about?!"

Katara balled her fists, "I was warned to watch my back…do I need to worry about you?" Her tone implied her other warnings.

The initial confusion on Zuko's face was a relief until his faced changed to a darker knowing look. Her legs tightened, ready to spring until he held up a hand.

"I'm not going back on my oath." He voice low and quiet.

She lowered her hand from the release valve on her water skin. Katara couldn't get rid of the goosebumps prickling up her flesh when she turned her back to him to grab B's reigns to walk on the other side of the animal for the rest of their hike.

The two didn't stop until late into the evening when Katara voiced that they should make camp for the night. His only response was grabbing their meal packs from the dragon moose.

A few minutes later, Katara was leaning against B's side, the both of them laying on the earth floor munching on an apple Zuko had cut. He was eating a few paces away, leaning against a thin tree. The two hadn't shared a word since their earlier conversation and she was dying from the silence. She bit a chunk of her apple in irritation and leaned further into B's warm fur. Katara raised another slice to her mouth and paused mid-bite. She could have sworn she felt the earth shudder a bit. She shared a look with Zuko and knew he felt it too, his hands already going towards the handle on his swords.

She kept casting glances around thinking an ambush imminent, but when she turned in the direction of the vibrations they stopped.

"Do you feel that? Or am I going crazy?" She rose to a crouch and headed over to her pack where she had placed her water skin.

"Yeah." He narrowed his eyes and looked around slowly.

"Do you think there's an EaAAAHHH!" She screamed as a rock pyramid shot up around her, wrapping around her wrists and neck and completely immobilizing her arms.

Zuko grunted as a column collided with his stomach knocking him to the ground. A second before he hit the ground, a tall cylinder of rock shot up around him.

She looked over to the dragon moose only to see that he had wandered a few yards away to a patch of something and was munching to his content. Katara groaned when she heard manic laughing coming from behind her. Not again.

A short woman with black hair and enough dirt on her face to build a farm came towards them, laughing as she would say "her ass off."

"TOPH! LET ME OUT!"

"Piss on it Sugar Queen! You're just mad because the score's now 12 to 34 and you're no where close to evening the score." Toph winked. "So who's this guy?" She padded over and knocked on the rock wall for emphasis. Katara rolled her eyes when she swore Zuko was probably kicking the barrier if his cursing was anything to go by.

As she was investigating her prison, Toph's teammates emerged. One of which Katara recognized, the other must have been a new addition.

"Haru will you help me out?" She couldn't help but notice the increase of facial hair around his upper lip.

"I learned my lesson from the last time I helped you out…NO…NO way. You know Toph would beat my ass with no remorse." A cackle from behind him was the only reply.

"So who are you?" A younger man, probably still in his late teenage years emerged from behind Haru. His scruffy dark hair gave off the look that he let Toph give him his hair cuts. The green headband around his forehead doing nothing to keep his hair in place. His gangly arms and large grey eyes made him look even younger.

"I'm Aang!" He thrust out a gloved hand in greeting only to get a glare from Katara when she emphasized her dilemma by tapping her nails against the rock prison. Haru rolled his eyes.

"He's new." Katara tried to look behind her when she felt the earth shift under her feet and massaged her newly freed wrists.

"You gonna to keep him in there all day Toph?" Katara asked lazily. She glanced up and paused, "what are you doing?" Toph had a hand up to the rock wall and seemed to be concentrating on something. She looked to Katara's direction before shrugging her shoulders and lowering the wall. Zuko maintained his usual grumpy face with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Woah…" Haru's eyes widened. "He's Fire Nation." Haru walked over and began to slowly circle him. Zuko maintained his hard glare on Toph. Katara couldn't help suppress the giggle rising up in her throat. Haru was not so subtly checking out Zuko's backside. At the sound of her giggle, Zuko looked behind him and noticed where Haru's eyes had been a moment before. He quickly back-walked over to Katara. "He's cute too~"

Toph pointed to Haru and gave a quick "down boy" before turning to Katara. "I thought we were supposed to meet up with Sokka and Suki for this mission?"

"Guess who got pregnant~" Katara sing-songed.

"Bout damn time! They've been doing it like lop rabbits for ages! I was beginning to think Sokka didn't have it in him!"

"But they're not lop rabbits…" Aang seemed genuinely confused.

"Oh twinkletoes…" Toph couldn't help the pained expression on her face. Haru walked back over to Aang and threw an arm over his shoulders.

"Want me to explain in detail?" Toph stomped her foot and within seconds Haru had slid five feet from Aang. Katara couldn't help but notice that even Zuko had quirked his eyebrow at the comment.

"Tell you what, we'll stop by a farm on the way home so you can figure it out okay?" Toph huffed at Aang's enthusiastic nods. She pressed a finger to her temple to easy away the 'mental pain'.

It wasn't until an hour later when they had finally set up camp for the night. It had taken the group a few minutes to settle down Aang when the dragon moose had wandered over to Zuko and started to rub his nose against his shoulder. Aang apparently had never seen the animal up close and within seconds was on the back on the animal, petting it's ears. B bumped his muzzle against Zuko's shoulder again.

"Okay, okay! I know what you want!" Zuko muttered in annoyance under his breath. He could feel the animal's eyes on him like lasers as he walked over to his pack and produced a knife and an apple. He quickly cut around the core in large chunks, occasionally passing some of the apple bits to Aang for him to feed the animal as well.

Haru bumped his shoulder against Katara's and motioned with his chin at the trio for her to explain.

"Right before we go to bed is B's treat time. It started out of the blue a couple weeks ago and now we've created a monster. He won't let either of us sleep until he gets something."

Haru sucked on his teeth. "I'm trying to figure out if I have a cavity from all this cuteness." Katara rolled her eyes. She let her gaze roll over to Toph who was currently leaning against a tree at the opposite end of their camp site with a concentrated look on her face. Haru leaned over, his voice lowered. "So where did you pick up this fire nation guy? And why fire nation at that? Please tell me it wasn't one of Hahn's brilliant ideas…"

"It actually was an order from the higher ups so in that case, who really knows. I know he's weaseled his way into the higher counsel groups by means that I really don't want to know." Haru remained silent. "They simply said that I needed a man within a certain age group of fire nation decent for an upcoming mission with one person highly recommended." Katara subtly pointed her eyes at Zuko. "After looking through two different prison camps I found the guy. Sokka broke in a few days before to watch him more closely and the two of them broke out together. Let me tell you, it took a lot of convincing to let the Warden lower the security long enough for my idiot brother and him to escape."

Haru hummed in response. "Sokka must be pacing a hole in the ground in his house right about now." Katara smirked.

"You have no idea. But we've been working together for a few months. The counsel was insistent that I had to make sure he's a non-bender and to this day I haven't seen him sneeze a spark."

"Kat, you know how dangerous fire benders can be−"

"You don't have to remind me." Katara's voice was dangerously low. She had been fighting in this war long enough to know first hand what it was like to see the viscous glare a fire bender has when he's consumed by the heat of his flames, but women were always worse. She tried to ignore the goosebumps running up her arms at the memory of a cruel smile and blue flames. She shook her head to erase her memories.

"Just be careful. I feel like there's something else going on and I don't want my favorite lady getting hurt−OW! OKAY TOPH SECOND FAVORITE! Geez…" Haru rubbed the growing lump on the side of his head from Toph's pebble thrown with impossible accuracy.

"Don't be such a wimp!" Toph smirked from her spot.

Haru humphed in response.

0~0~0~0~0

A/N:

YES I'M STILL ALIVE! Goodness I'm so sorry for such a freakin long wait. I was so unhappy with this chapter and kept changing it and changing it until I came up with this. This is half as long as originally planned but the next scene fits much better in the next chapter.

Part of the delay reason was also just figuring out where I was going with this monster. But don't worry. The plans have been set. This fic won't be abandoned! See you guys in chapter 8!