I woke up a short time later to the sunrise. Zuko had stayed awake the entire night, meditating. "That lemur came back while you slept," he said. "It delivered a note." I stretched, popping my back.
"Did you read it?" Zuko shook his head.
"It hissed at me when I tried," Zuko explained. "Besides, it's yours." He handed me a scroll with Sokka's messy handwriting on it. I took it from him, opened it, and read it aloud. (Not too loud, in case someone heard.)
"'Katara-
"'Don't worry. We'll get you (and that prince) out soon. As soon as we get some back up, or Aang starts glowing, whichever comes first.
"'Your big brother.'"
"Glowing? What does he mean by that?" Zuko asked when I finished.
"Aang's Avatar State makes his entire body glow electric blue, almost white," I explained. "He's at his most powerful, but also at his weakest. He could probably destroy this whole place if he was angry enough," I added as an afterthought.
"Hmm, that would be useful," Zuko agreed. At that moment, a roll of thunder so loud it shook the cell rumbled threateningly. "What the heck?" Zuko muttered, getting up to look out the window. I joined him.
"Is that a hurricane?" I asked. We did never have them up at the Pole, but Aang said that storm that Sokka was stuck out in was pretty close to one.
"We're no where near an ocean," he told me. "It's probably just a thunderstorm. I've heard they're worse in the mountains."
"That's true." Traveling on a flying bison for weeks on end takes you over many mountains.
Zuko and I stood watching the approaching storm for about ten minutes before there was a knock on the door. I went to see who it was. It was Soon-Yi.
"Bad news," she said.
"Do you ever have good news?" Zuko muttered. Soon-Yi ignored him and continued.
"That storm has enough strength to destroy the fields and Chen said all Waterbenders and Firebenders are supposed to go out and get the water and lightning at bay." I looked at Zuko, who nodded.
"Tell them that we were both sick when you told us," I said. "And if I have to work for that pompous milksop, I will be sick." Soon-Yi looked at me, but nodded and left.
"If you say so," she muttered. I went over to Zuko.
"You can see the fields from here," Zuko pointed out. I looked down at the rows and rows of crops, just budding. Hundreds of Water-and Firebenders were waiting. "They'll be killed," Zuko muttered. "That storm looks powerful enough to kill that bison the Avatar rides with one lightning bolt."
"Chances are killing them is precisely what Chen wants," I said. "Look, here he comes!"
A fat, overweight man in silken robes came out to the field, surrounded by guards. I saw several slaves make evil signs at him.
Just then, it began to rain. At Chen's signal, the Waterbenders jointly bent an umbrella over the tender shoots. Every time lightning hit, Firebenders were forced to be human lightning rods.
"I didn't know Firebenders could do that," I muttered.
"We don't often; sends jolts through our body that could kill, depending on the voltage," Zuko explained.
Suddenly, the winds picked up, sending some of the shoots towards Zuko and me. "Duck!" he cried as a small rock came speeding towards us. "I think we should move away from the window," Zuko said, taking my shoulder and guiding me back to the grate. He wrapped his arms around me protectively.
The storm grew progressively worse. "I thought you said this couldn't be a hurricane!" I called over the wind.
"Guess I was wrong," Zuko said. A medium sized rock came flying at our window. Zuko and I ducked, and I felt his arms tighten around me. We stayed down and hid behind the cot, which was stuck to the floor somehow. I screamed when another rock, this one larger, hit where our heads had been a moment before.
"It's okay, Katara," Zuko murmured in my ear. For some reason, I felt calmer, safer.
We stayed like that for what seemed ages. We couldn't get under the cot, which might have been safer. Every time a rock came towards us, Zuko held me tighter.
But that wasn't the worse part. No, the worse part was the thunder and lightning. Several times I swore I saw the lightning head for us.
Finally, the storm stopped. Cautiously, I popped my head up from behind the bed. The sky was still dark, but it was no longer raining. The first sign of damage was the huge hole in the wall. "I think it's safe now," I whispered to Zuko, though why I was whispering I don't know.
Zuko stood, helping me to stand. Taking my hand, he led me over to the recently made window. "We're not that high off the ground," he noted. We jumped.
The bodies of everyone who had been outside were scattered like dead leaves in the fall, even that of Master Chen. "Good riddance," I muttered. I grew sad, however, when I saw the body of Soon-Yi.
Zuko, on the other hand, chose the practical way and started taking any weapons still in one piece. He tossed the ones that were too large or that neither of us had ever used. "We'll need them when we leave," he told me when I asked him why he was doing this. Zuko found two broadswords and a pearl knife, which he instantly pocketed.
"Did they take those from you?" I asked. Zuko nodded. While he did that, I headed back into the fortress.
The lower regions had been flooded, so I had to bend my way through the bodies and water. I found the furnace, now soaked, and the laundry, also soaked. I remembered hearing how the kitchen was on the second floor, so I found stairs and hoped the pantry was in good shape.
Only the flour and such was ruined. I found two packs and began stuffing anything that would fit into them; when they were full, I found two more and began again. Once I finished, I left.
The body of a guard floated in my path. "Eek," I cringed, careful to avoid him. Soon I was back outside.
"Katara? Katara, where are you?" Zuko sounded worried; he was worried?
"I'm right here. I went into the larder and got some food before it all went bad," I explained, following the sound of his voice. He was standing there, waiting for me with my blue dress and what appeared to be green clothing.
"Here." He handed me my dress. Taking it from him, I looked up at the sky in hopes of seeing Sokka and Aang.
"Is there some way to let them know I'm not dead?" I asked.
"Let who know? Oh, the Avatar." Zuko shrugged. "Hopefully they'll think to look for your body, which they won't find, seeing as how you're still using it. Come on. The faster we get away, the less likely we'll be found."
By who? I nearly asked, but the memory of that powerful Firebender girl came to mind, silencing my tongue. She was not someone I wanted to run into. I followed Zuko at a fast walk.
Don't worry, I'm not done yet. For cryin' out loud, I haven't even gotten into the fluffy stuffs yet.