-1Katara's Point of View

It was like waking up from a good dream, but not remembering what that dream was about. When I woke up I had the feeling that something good had happened, but I couldn't think of what. Brushing the hair out of my eyes I climbed out of bed and got dressed. If I remembered correctly, we were supposed to start the trip to the North Pole so I could learn water bending with Aang. Wait a minute…. Zuko! I'd started dating him!

Suddenly excited, I bolted out of my room and to the living room. Sokka was tapping his foot against the floor impatiently. "Finally!" he yelled. "Come on, let's go." He grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the door, much to the amusement of the others. "But I haven't eaten yet!" I protested. Impatiently Sokka grabbed a piece of bread and shoved it into my hand. "Eat that. Come on, we've already lost enough time and Zhao and his army could come any second."

"Zhao? Isn't he that guy with the ugly sideburns?"

"That's him," Zuko growled, an angry look crossing his face. I'd heard that he'd clashed with Zhao, but I figured it was some stupid power thing. Quickly I wolfed down the bread, resolving to get a better breakfast once we started traveling. Sokka hustled us out of the hotel and away from the town. Once we were out of sight, Aang whistled. A huge furry animal that Aang called a flying bison flew down from the sky. "This is Appa," he said happily. "Say hi!"

"Hi, Appa!" I crooned, petting him on the head. He licked me. "Katara, are you sure you should be near him?" Zuko asked, backing away.

"Don't worry. Appa's perfectly harmless," Aang assured Zuko. As if to reassure Zuko, Appa licked him. Zuko stumbled back with a horrified look on his face. "Gross!" he yelled, wiping the spit off. Giggling, I gave him a quick hug and mounted Appa. "Do we have to ride him?" Zuko complained. "Can't we walk?"

"I'm with Scarface," Toph chimed in. "We can walk. Why do we have to ride Sheddy?"

"Don't call him Sheddy!" Aang snapped.

"Guys, stop!" I chided them. "We'll ride Appa. We can make better time."

"Fine," Zuko huffed, climbing next to me and wrapping an arm around my waist. After everyone else had climbed onto Appa, Aang called, "Appa, yip, yip!" Appa rose into the air and we were flying. Delighted, I leaned over him, looking at the ground below. The trees waved in the breeze, looking like a sea. Flowing nearby was a river. "Zuko, come look at this!" I called, nearly falling in the process. Luckily I managed to right myself .

"Katara, get back here. You'll fall!" Zuko scolded. He was white and trembling. Reluctantly I abandoned my position and crawled back to Zuko who wrapped a secure arm around me.

"Can I take off this disguise now?" Aang asked. Sokka nodded. Sighing with relief, Aang whipped off the hat and headband, exposing the light blue arrow. Zuko's eyes took on a strange gleam. Was he planning on capturing Aang? I thought he'd changed, but his whole life he'd been planning to capture the Avatar. Could he honestly go against that now, even though he'd made the right choice? What should I do?

There's nothing you can, do. It's Zuko's choice. All you can do is be there for him and hope he'll make the right choice.

That doesn't sound like enough.

I know. But you're a good person, and Zuko's with good people. Hopefully he'll do what's right.

But what if he doesn't? What do I do then?

Let's not worry about that right now. I can't tell you what to do if that happens. You have to figure it out on your own.

What? Are you serious? The one time I might want your help you can't help me?

Sorry, it's the rules. Apparently it's supposed to help you become a better person.

That makes no sense.

That's life for you.

It's not as much fun agreeing with you, for some reason.

Sorry about that.

I looked at Zuko again. Despite his temper and stupid decisions, I did believe that he was a good person. But what if he did do something wrong? Could I forgive him? I mean, I knew that a relationship with Zuko wouldn't be easy, but was I ready for it? Of course, it depended on what Zuko did, didn't it? Why was I fretting about this now? Zuko hadn't done anything. All I was doing was making myself crazy with worry. Hopefully Zuko would do the right thing. I had to trust that he would.

After about four hours, we landed for a little break. "Hey, Aang, why don't I teach you some water bending moves?"

"Sure, that'd be great! Thanks, Katara!" I smiled and led Aang to the water.

"This was really hard for me to get," I told him, showing Aang the movements. "You won't get it right away. It took me months to-" I broke off to see that Aang was doing the move perfectly, to my dismay. Stifling the jealous feeling that started bubbling up inside me I suggested, "Why don't we start with something harder? Pushing the water is too easy."

"Okay!" Aang agreed enthusiastically.

"I've been working on this move for a long time," I explained, moving my hands up and around. The water rose up with me and I shot out my arms. Instead of flying straight out, the water snaked up and whipped me in the forehead. "Ow!" I cried.

"Like this, Katara?" Aang asked. He did the exact same movements I did, but the move worked perfectly. What had I done wrong? "That's great, Aang. Let me try again." I copied Aang's movements exactly, but once again the water hit me in the face. "What am I doing wrong?" I cried frustrated.

"You're putting too much weight in your body movements," Aang instructed. "Try it like this." As he demonstrated the technique, I felt a horrible feeling. Jealously. I liked to think that I was above jealousy. People had to accept that there were others who were better than them. But I'd never actually been faced with that situation. Being a Fire Nation slave for so long, I hadn't really encountered much water benders. I'd accepted that there would be more experienced water benders, but I didn't expect it to be in the form of a twelve year old kid, even if he was the Avatar.

"Try it like this, Katara!" Aang called.

My fists clenched and it was like I'd lost all sense of logic. In that moment, I gave myself into the frustration I was feeling.

"Would you just shut your airhole? Just because you're the Avatar doesn't mean you know everything!" I yelled. Aang's lip began to tremble and his eyes filled with tears, but I was too mad to care. How could Aang be better than me? I'd been water bending for years, but he could make my moves look so easy. It wasn't fair! I'd worked hard on my water bending, why should Aang get the moves faster than I did? Sure he was the Avatar, but water wasn't his natural element.

"Katara, maybe you should calm down," Sokka suggested.

"I'M COMPLETELY CALM!" I roared, my teeth bared and my eyes bulging. As if to disprove my claim, the water from the river reared up and splashed me, leaving me drenched.

"Yeah, you're real calm, Sugar Queen," Toph said sarcastically.

"Katara, maybe you should calm down," Zuko suggested.

"You, tell me how to be calm? You're the one who solves every problem by burning something, just like your monster nation! You're just like the rest of your family!"

"I am not!" Zuko yelled. Fire shot towards me, but I blocked it.

"Perhaps we should get a move on," Iroh suggested. "Things will work out after we've cooled down."

"Fine." We mounted Appa and took off. Zuko was glaring at me and so was Toph. Why were they making me the bad guy?

Because you are.

Go away.

No, you're going to listen to me. I'm your conscience, remember?

I don't want to hear what you've got to say.

You mean you don't want to face the truth. Too bad, you're going to. How could you be so mean?

I wasn't mean!

Hello, you yelled at a little kid!

He's twelve.

He's still younger than you are.

He was showing off.

Just because he's better at water bending than you means he was showing off? He was trying to help you! He was being nice and you blew up at him!

I was frustrated!

That doesn't mean you can be a jerk! Just look at Zuko. The poor guy was trying to help and you compare him to his family. Low blow.

I was just angry. I didn't mean any of it.

But you said it. Now you have to fix it.

I feel awful.

When people act awful, they usually feel awful. So fix it.

You're right, I will. I just felt so insecure about my own bending.

Why, because Aang's better than you?

Yeah. I mean, I've studied water bending longer than he has, but he's so much faster than I am!

Maybe because it's because he's the Avatar. There's more urgency for him to master the elements.

I hadn't thought of it that way. I just felt as though I wasn't a good enough water bender.

That's ridiculous. Just because there's someone better than you doesn't make you any less of a water bender. You can't go crazy every time there's someone better than you. What were you going to do when you met a Master?

That's different. I'd expect a master to be better. But not a twelve year old kid.

He's the Avatar.

So just because he's the Avatar he's supposed to be better than me?

You're being an idiot. You're a great water bender. You taught yourself in the Fire Nation, that has to count for something. Just because Aang is faster than you doesn't make you any less of a water bender.

Yeah, you're right. It'll just take me sometime to get used to the idea. I should apologize, huh?

Uh- huh.

The rest of the trip was passed in silence, with my fretting over what a jerk I'd been. People made mistakes and they were jerks. I was no exception, but I always felt awful. Well, I'd apologize and by tomorrow, everything would be okay.

We landed. As Aang went to help Sokka unpack, I hurried up to him. "Aang, look, I'm sorry. I was just jealous that you were a better water bender than me. I was a jerk."

"No you weren't, Katara!" Aang assured me.

"Yeah, she was," Sokka commented.

"Shut up, Sokka," I snapped, but there was no anger in my statement.

"I forgive you, Katara," Aang said. Smiling, I hugged him. Then I caught sight of Zuko eyeing us. Remembering that I had to apologize to him as well, I went over. Zuko was playing with fire in his hands. When he saw me, he looked away. "Zuko, I'm sorry."

"Hmmph."

"Come on, don't be like that. I was just angry. You know I don't think you're like your family."

Zuko was silent.

"Please say something!" I pleaded.

"What do you want me to say, Katara? You acted like a total bitch!"

"I know, and I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"

"I thought you were different. Now I see you're just like everyone else. I don't even know why I liked you."

"Zuko…" But Zuko was getting worked up. Leaping up he started pacing, fire swirling around him. "I don't know why I even liked you. You're a bitch, you yell at people, you're controlling, you think you know everything…. You should have just stayed with Jet. You two are perfect for each other."

"Prince Zuko, calm down," Uncle Iroh chastised him. "You and Katara will feel better in the morning."

"No we won't! I don't care about her. She can go die for all I care!"

I felt as though I'd been punched in the gut. Zuko hated me. Turning away, I tried to conceal the tears that were brimming in my eyes. It was okay. Zuko was just mad, like I was earlier today. He didn't mean it. I couldn't get worked up just because Zuko said something when he was angry. People said things that were hurtful when they were angry. It didn't mean a thing. So why was I upset? I knew Zuko didn't mean it, so I shouldn't let it bother me. That was the problem. People said things and I let it bother me.

"I'm going for a walk," I announced. "I'll be back in a little bit."

"Be careful," Sokka warned. "I saw Zhao's ship a while back."

"Don't worry." I set off. My plan was to practice water bending, and cool off. Hopefully by the time I got back, Zuko would accept my apology.

Zuko's Point of View

Spirits, I hated Katara. Why the hell did I like her? She was such a bitch comparing me to my family.

You're being an idiot.

Why do you always show up when you're not wanted?

It's my job. For crying out loud, Katara apologized.

She's just doing that to make herself feel better!

Ugh. She said something mean! She didn't mean it and she's sorry. Shouldn't she be forgiven? You act like a jackass on a daily basis and people forgive you.

That's different.

How? If you said something mean to Katara and apologized, she'd forgive you!

Katara was being a bitch.

I know that. People say mean things, they apologize, you move on. You couldn't have just accepted her apology, huh? No, you had to blow up at her like an asshole!

She was being mean!

When? When she saw she'd been a jerk and was apologizing? The matter would've been settled then, but no. You had to go bite the poor girl's head off.

Would you just leave me alone? What do you want from me?

I want you to see what an idiot you're being. People are going to say mean things. Half of the time, they'll just be mad and won't mean it. You can't blow up every time someone apologizes for something mean they did.

Would you just leave me alone?

Are you going to apologize to Katara?

Why would I do that? She yelled at me!

But she was apologizing and you yelled at her!

Well, I …..

Yeah. You were a jerk. As soon as Katara comes back you're going to apologize and put the matter behind you.

Maybe I was a jerk. Katara had apologized maybe I shouldn't have yelled. Oh well, what difference did it make? Katara would come back and I'd apologize. End of story. While I waited, I nibbled on dried fruit. Sokka was curled up by the fire snoring and Uncle Iroh was singing something about four seasons. Aang was scratching his lemur Momo behind the ears, and Toph was sprawled on the ground. Shouldn't Katara be back by now? How long did it take to go for a walk?

"Shouldn't Katara be back by now?" I asked.

"Yeah, she should," Sokka answered. A worried look crossed his face.

"Guys, I'm sure she's fine. She probably got caught up water bending or something. I'm sure that there's a logical explanation," Toph chimed in.

"I don't like it. It's not like Katara to stay out so long."

"I'm sure she's fine and we're all getting worked up over nothing. But if it'll make you feel better, then we'll go look for her in half an hour," Uncle Iroh suggested. I wasn't satisfied; I wanted to be looking for Katara now! Who knew what had happened to her? Had my mean words jinxed her, or something? But maybe I was overreacting. There was probably a logical explanation.

The half hour passed and Katara still wasn't back. I volunteered to go looking for her, along with Sokka. Aang, Toph, and Uncle stayed behind with the animals. "Katara!" I called. "Where are you?" No answer. I longed for Katara to come running, explaining that it was all just a big mistake. My instincts told me that there was trouble. But my instincts always told me that there was trouble; I'd never learnt to let my guard down. Please let my instincts be wrong.

"Hey, Zuko! Come look at this!" Sokka was gesturing to the ground. Eyeing it, I saw that Katara had passed here. Yes! "She can't be far away now," I reasoned. "Come on!"

"Hold it! What if she's been captured? We could be walking right into a trap!" Sokka warned.

"Wouldn't there be more footprints?" I pointed out. "Come on, she could be hurt!"

Keeping my eye on the footprints, I followed them as fast as I could. My mind kept jumping to the worst possible conclusions. Katara could be dead. She could be hurt, or kidnapped. Maybe the Freedom Fighters came back and kidnapped her. I never trusted Jet. Sokka ran ahead of me, anxious about his little sister. "Look! Her footprints stop here!" he yelled. He was right. But then where was Katara? If here footprints ended here, then she should be here. My eyes fell on something. "Blood," I whispered.

I examined the ground. The dirt had drag marks and there were scorch marks on the trees. "Katara's been captured."

AN: I know that Zutara happened, but please stick with the story. I still have a bunch of ideas I can't wait to write. Don't give up just because Zutara happened. There's still plenty of conflict and drama I have planned.