Hey guys, you are amazing! I never thought I'd get this much support 49 reviews already, I'm completely exhilarated. Thank you all so much.

Anyone who guesses where I got my idea for the chapter's title this time, gets a cookie.


Chapter 8

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

The awkwardness was back with a vengeance. It was worse than before. Now she was aware of his muscular chest behind her and the strong arms circling her weren't helping ether.

Her thoughts went constantly back to her dream and she kept wondering how much of it was real. If only she could remember…

'That settles it; I'll never drink cactus juice again, ever! I'd rather die of thirst!'

His thoughts weren't any better, with the small opportunity, that he was very well aware of what had happened. Only, he wished he wasn't. Repeatedly, he heard her calling him Aang in his mind. That had been a serious mood breaker. He tried to tell himself that it was for the best; who knows where that would have lead to … with this peasant. But every time, he would come to the conclusion, that everything would be better than to be confused with a twelve year old bald monk, which happens to be his worst enemy. He was sure he would get nightmares about that one day.

When the sun was at its highest they were almost in a delirium, AGAIN. But this time it was not only from the relentless sun and the life threatening thirst, but mostly because of their thoughts having gone in circles for hours. Just a little longer and they would reach the oasis. Katara was imagining what she would do to Zuko, once she had a big pool of water at her disposal, in full colour. He would pay, for EVERYTHING!

When she had fought against him at the North Pole she was desperate; desperate to keep Aang save. But NOW SHE WAS MAD! Nothing would hold her back now; he wouldn't know what hit him. Ok maybe he would, but still …

'Does he know what he is getting himself into, bringing us to an oasis? Is he planning his counter attack right now?'


But when they reached the place, it was nothing like she expected. There was no pool, no flowing water, nothing; just a seedy bar with ominous looking customers.

'Why is this called an oasis?!'

They went inside and ordered drinks, at least this was refreshing. Katara felt instantly better as the cool liquid ran down her sore throat.

An hour later, they had spent all of their money on drinks. Looking over at Katara, Zuko felt a great idea rush into him; finally he could gain profit from the girl at his side. He went into negotiation with the owner of the bar and after a few minutes of hard bargaining they agreed on five coins an hour.

To say Katara wasn't happy to hear what the men had agreed to behind her back was the understatement of the year, but in the end she yielded.

"So, what do I have to do?"

When she was told, she nearly backed out again. Extremely irked, she left the room with the foreign man. A few minutes later she re-emerged and Zuko almost fell off his chair. With eyes as big as saucers and his jaw hitting the desk he stared at Katara as if seeing her for the first time, and in a way it was. She was wearing some skimpy dress that showed off her womanly curves nicely, something fancy had been done to her hair but he couldn't pinpoint just what and a fine layer of make up gave her an exotic look.

With hesitant, uncertain steps, she entered an area that could be called a stage, the soft music that was played by some musicians the whole time changed its tune and Katara started to sing. The whole room went silent, all eyes on the beautiful girl with the haunting voice. Soon, she lost all her nervousness and when she felt even bolder, she started to move sensually to the music. Katara enthralled everyone in the room and she started to enjoy the power she seemed to have over the men.

Zuko shook himself out of the stupor and started a light conversation with some of the bystanders, trying to get some information on the whereabouts of the Avatar without looking suspicious or sending someone new on his trail too. He really didn't need to worry about that, since nobody took too much notice of him or their conversation as long as Katara was on stage and soon he got all the information he wanted. A group that fitted the description had been here not long ago; they were in search for a Water Tribe girl. They had left shortly after that in the company of some weird explorer to go find a long lost library somewhere in the desert. The direction they were headed was north east; so that's where he and Katara would go next. But first, they had to rest and get lots of water and food for their long journey through the merciless desert.

A new bargain was made; Katara would keep her position as chorus girl while Zuko helped out as a bartender for the next three hours and in the morning they would clean the bar and as a payment, they'll get dinner, a room for the night and breakfast after they were done with the cleaning plus all the water and food Zuko had requested for their journey. It seemed fair enough.


They were fairly exhausted when they reached their room, only to discover that it contained only on small bed. Without second thought Zuko let himself fall into it, letting out a deep sigh.

"Oh no! That bed belongs to me; I worked hard for this!"

"And so did I, but I feel generous today, you may use it too if you want."

"Yeah, thank you so much. … So get up already!"

"No, I won't! I meant we could share this, but if you'd rather sleep on the floor, be my guest."

Katara fumed, but she was far too tired to put up a big fight, so she swallowed her pride and laid herself next to him.

"Turn around!" she ordered, scooting as far away from him as the small bed would allow, turning herself onto her side, so she would face away from him.

The first thing she realized when she woke up though was the strong arm, which was draped over her back, and the next how she herself was entangled with another body. Her head was nestled neatly on Zuko's chest, as was her arm while her right leg had found its way between Zuko's. This sudden awareness woke her fully in an instant, which in return woke Zuko. Embarrassed beyond reason they untangled quickly and it went without saying that this didn't happen and wasn't to be mentioned ever again.

The remaining job was completed in silence as was their breakfast. After they had packed their fresh supplies onto the ostrich-horse they said their goodbyes and headed off into the direction Zuko supposed they would find the Avatar.


"You were awesome last night. I never knew you have such a lovely voice."

Katara didn't know if she should feel flattered or embarrassed, but decided to play it cool.

"But the next time you plan something like that, it will be you who gets to wear the skimpy skirt and make a complete fool out of himself."

He only snickered at that; a rare sound Katara found she oddly liked. She remembered that, this time yesterday, she was extremely mad at Zuko and while she hadn't forgiven him just yet, she didn't want to ruin the nice day and the peaceful mood.

They had travelled for hours and made good progress, when suddenly the ostrich-horse stopped so abruptly that Katara and Zuko went flying over its head and through the air. On instinct, Zuko wrapped his arms around Katara securely and managed to turn his body with the fall in a way that she wouldn't get hurt, only to regret his actions when he hit the ground. Pain shot up his back and he wondered idly what he was doing; as fast as could be, he withdrew his hands from the shocked girl. A look to the ostrich-horse told Zuko that this must be the work of the Sandbenders he had heard about – the feet of their animal were contained in cuffs of sand. They were surrounded by men wrapped in what looked like bandages, who seemed to have been coming out of nowhere.


You think they are a little OOC? I guess you are right, but I don't care, I wanted some fun, before the action starts. Did you like it?

As always lots of thanx to my wonderful betas Appa-Appa-Away and Sven.