Everything was quiet in the chilly cell. Light from the setting sun filtered in through the window. Katara sat in the middle of the floor, concentrating. She tried every way to sense any water nearby. The whiff of the ocean had caught her notice the night before and since then, she had tried in all her power to bring some of it to her. She let her mind run through with all memories of water, hoping to trigger something to her.
A loud groan was heard in the hall. Katara's eyes snapped open. Short sounds of fire bursted outside the room before abruptly stopping. Mere seconds later, the door slammed open. Katara fell back in surprise, worried of who it could be. To her relief, it was a face she recognized. The kind woman looked slightly out of breath with her hair raffled all over the place.
"You have to get out of here." The woman exclaimed, infatuated. She quickly opened the cell door with the keys she had taken from the guard. "Everyone else is outside because of the fight that broke out after a ship rolled in."
"Zuko," Katara thought with hope. She stumbled out with the woman, only to see a couple of guards lying on the ground, unconscious, fresh scorch marks scattered on the walls. Katara stopped in her tracks, confused at what happened. Surely the woman must have been injured after all that fire. The woman noticed that she no longer was being followed and stopped. She noticed the Waterbender's gaze at the men on the floor.
"Why are you helping me?" Katara asked with confusion filled eyes. The woman approached her slowly.
"No one should ever have to endure so much pain. You have so much of your life still ahead of you. The world is changing for the better and I know you will continue to be a big part of it." The woman took her hand. "Now we must hurry." They raced down the hall until they reached a split. "Outside is that way." The woman replied, pointing down the right path. She left Katara and began the other direction.
"Aren't you coming?" She asked, worried about each other's safety if they split up.
"I'll be fine. I need to help the other refugees out."
Katara hesitantly nodded before carefully going about her way. She began to smell the ocean as she continued down the poorly lit hall. Rounding another corner, she slammed into someone, almost losing her balance. They grabbed her arms to keep her from falling. She fearfully looked up at her captor, only to feel a pool of relief and great happiness at the same time.
"Zuko," she whispered. She buried her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, not wanting to ever let go. He softly ran his fingers through her tangled hair.
"Katara, I am so glad that you are alright." He placed a kiss on her forehead. When they finally pulled away from each other, he gently placed his hand on her bruised cheek. "What happened?" He softly asked, worried about possible further injuries.
"I'm fine." She reassured him, taking his hand in hers. He tightly gripped her hand.
"We need to get you out of here." He urgently said, taking one last careful examination of her face. They took off down the hall. Soon, they reached a door. Zuko pushed it open, revealing the beautiful blue sky. Katara leaned on his arm feeling the much needed peace. Her happiness was short lived. Fire blasts shot all over the place, reminding her of the danger they were still in.
"There you two are." A voice called from the side. Katara's face lit up as she saw her friend. "I was about to go in after you." With the kick of her heel, the blind Earthbender shot a huge hunk of rock in the air, knocking her opponent down. Toph turned to face the couple. "Now, what's the plan Sparky?"
Zuko squeezed Katara's hand and held it close. "We take care of this now." Toph nodded as she took down another attacker.
Zuko pulled Katara toward his ship, evading any fire bursts near them.. "We need to get you to safety!" He replied hastily, not letting go.
She abruptly stopped and pulled her hand away. "No, I can fight."
"You have been locked away for—"
She put a hand to his mouth. "Do you know how Azula got here? She took over a ship on route to take refugees home. We need to help them out, not me."
"You are no longer in danger. My crew can get the others out of here." She firmly stood with her arms folded. "Please Katara," he pleaded, "I don't want to risk losing you. If you were to go back now; I don't know what will happen."
Katara took his hands and looked up earnestly into his weary eyes. "I love you too Zuko, but there's something you need to know. I was cared for by a very kind woman who helped me escape and I believe her to—"
Zuko barely glanced up in time to see a fast, oncoming blue fireball. He blocks Katara and dissembled it, Katara cowering over to avoid contact of the dangerous element. She turned and saw a distinct figure standing nearby, arms stretched out to attack.
"Nice of you to drop by brother," She replied menacingly.
Zuko prepared himself in a defense position with Katara to his left, a load of water surrounding her.
"Get out of here Katara; I can handle her on my own." Zuko harshly whispered.
"Not after what happened the last time you battled your sister." Katara shot back. "I stay with you."
Zuko sighed, giving up. He knew not to fight the waterbender's determination. "Fine, but stay behind me."
Azula glanced at Katara before returning her attention back to Zuko.
"Ah, the epic battle again. This time, I'll take out your little Waterbender for sure." With full blast, blue fire went straight for Katara. Zuko blocked it out and returned fire. Azula jerked out of the way, the fire scorching the wall behind her.
"You missed." Azula pointed out as she shot two massive blasts. Katara shielded one. Through the smoke filled air, a few more blasts hurled past.
The fight continued on. Zuko and Katara evaded the Fire Princess with great determination. Zuko began to wonder if his sister could direct lightning. As if right on cue, Azula built herself up for a dangerous attack. Seeing the attention shift to Zuko for a slight moment, Katara took her water whip and wrapped it around Azula's legs. With a swift pull, the princess fell to the ground, landing on her hands. She stood up angrily and looked back at the two, searching for any weakness. Katara glanced to the right, noticing the refugees sneaking around the side, the kind older woman leading the way. Azula saw the distraction and in a split second, whipped around and created a wall of fire, blocking their exit. They gasped in surprise as they huddled together, the woman in front.
"There is no way you can win!" Azula exclaimed, panting, "Surrender now Zuko, and I promise that they will go free."
Zuko looked over at the terrified people, not sure what to do. All others had stopped fighting at this point and watched the two siblings, wondering what would happen next. The fire wall intensified. The prisoners looked around them in terror as the kind woman looked toward Katara and Zuko with sadness in her eyes. Katara noticed and understood the meaning. She placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder.
Azula laughed in her brother's hesitance. "Clearly, the Fire Nation needs a strong leader. You might as well give up now."
Zuko glared at the deranged power-hungry princess and replied, "Not a chance." Azula shook her head and the flames rose in height.
Cliffhanger! Will Zuko have made the right choice, risking the lives of these people? You'll just have to wait and see what will happen. The next part will be coming up soon…I hope. Please give feedback. Tell me what you think and if there is anything else you think I should add.
