Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, but holy crap—do I ever wish I could!
Author's Note: I wrote an insanely long chapter (well, at least for me) for you guys because you're the best, most wonderful reviewers on planet earth! Thanks so much for continuing to support me and my storytelling. Now read—I command you—and REVIEW!! Thanks guys!
ATTENTION TO ALL OF MY WONDERFUL, DEVOTED, AND THOROUGHLY AWESOME REVIEWERS AND READERS:
Recently I've been extremely flattered by the multitude of wonderful compliments and comments I've been recieving. You've all been very good this year. : ) This is why I've decided to say "Happy Holidays" and give you all a Christmas present in the form of a brand-spankin' new Zutara story! I'll post it sometime next week so you can have the gift of Zutara for Christmas.
Some of you might remember it; I've mentioned it before, but my new story is entitled The Masquerade. It takes place during Book 3: Fire, somewhere between "The Headband" and "Nightmares and Daydreams." Here's a short synopsis for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about but are excited anyway:
Prince Zuko reluctantly agrees--along with Azula--to attend and represent the royal family at Fire Lord Ozai's Annual Royal Masquerade Ball. Unbeknownst to the Fire Nation Prince, Katara, Aang, and Sokka spot a poster advertising the event and decide it is the perfect oppurtunity to infiltrate the Fire Lord's home unnoticed before the Invasion. However, when Zuko and Katara encounter each other at the Masquerade, tensions will heighten, identities will be revealed, and an unexpected romance will bloom.
Sound good? Perk your interest? Make you want to jump out of your chair and do a celebratory Zutara dance? I certainly hope so! Keep an eye out for it next week, or add me to your Author Alert list to be the first to read The Masquerade. Thank you all for being so interested in my work!
And now back to my current story and to resolve the much-hated cliffhanger from the previous chapter...
CHAPTER TEN
Katara attempted a scream as she felt the heat of the flames consume her, but the hand that clamped tightly over her mouth blocked any sound from escaping into the cool night air. She winced in pain as her captor twisted her arm further behind her back—the pain was so much that she had no hope of defending herself, even with waterbending.
Besides—the fire had already surrounded her. She felt the blaze sear her skin. Smoke circled her head like a darkened, hazy halo, and when she tried to suck in a desperate breath the malicious fumes choked her and made her eyes fill with tears. Katara saw the blurry, flickering shapes of the flames all around her, and in her weakened, captive state began to resign herself to death.
Is it really ending like this? She wondered.
Then suddenly the flames were gone, and Katara felt her body being yanked roughly back. The smoke disappeared, and the waterbender coughed as well as she could with a hand covering her mouth, clearing her aching lungs of the deadly fumes. But she was confused. Where was the fire? Why didn't she feel it biting into her flesh like she did a moment ago?
"So—you survived after all," Katara heard a familiar, mocking female voice say. It was Azula, Zuko's sister, who held her captive. "But you'd better not try that again. You could hurt your little waterbending friend."
Blinking her eyes rapidly to clear them of her tears, Katara glanced again at the scene in front of her. This time, not only did she see the outline of the huge dead trunk, but Zuko was there. He was frozen in a classic firebending stance—and his fists were smoking. Suddenly, the situation made sense to Katara. It hadn't been Azula's filling the night air with flames moments ago, it had been Zuko. And then, as quickly as that thought made sense to her it didn't anymore. She remembered that Zuko wasn't capable of firebending. Or was he?
But…but how? The waterbender thought in disbelief, even as she watched the delicate tendrils of smoke curl off the Prince's knuckles. His chakra is blocked; he can't firebend! What's going on?
She glanced at the Prince's face—the expression cast across his features was a mix of terror and amazement. He seemed as just as confused as Katara was, and equally frightened as well.
"Oh, and I don't think I have to tell you," Azula continued, the tone of her voice twisting like a snake ready to strike. "Don't scream or attempt to warn anyone else in any way—or I'll kill her."
"Azula, I'm going to say this only once," Zuko's voice was low and dangerous, but there was a tremor in it that told Katara—and Azula—that he was desperately frightened. The Prince lowered his head, his eyes growing brighter as the darkness around the three benders grew thicker. This time, his voice sounded stronger: "Let. Her. Go."
Katara watched in silence, unable to do anything, as the knuckles on the firebender's fists tightened and became white with tension. However, the Fire Nation Prince's command seemed like an amusing joke to his sister. Azula cruelly twisted Katara's arm tighter, until another muffled whimper of pain escaped the waterbender's lips.
"Katara!" Zuko exclaimed, although the calling of her name was hushed to a mere whisper.
"I'm not letting her go," The Fire Nation Princess declared matter-of-factly. "And I think you know that the best thing you can do for her is to stand down, Zuko."
The female firebender gave Katara's arm another agonizing yank; another pain-filled cry stung Zuko's ears. Azula certainly had her own wicked ways of getting a point across. Katara watched, growing more and more frightened by the second, as Zuko's eyes flashed back and forth between the two girls. First a sympathetic, petrified glance at Katara, then a fiery, rage-filled glare at his sister, and then back again.
"I'm waiting, Zuzu," Azula purred musically. She began to give Katara's arm another twist, and the waterbender squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for another jolt of pain.
But it never came. Katara peeked open her eyes, and saw Zuko's facial expression melt from that of a determined warrior to that of a defeated child. He dropped his stance, his arms hanging limply at his sides, but his eyes still held their characteristic fire.
"I'll do whatever you ask on one condition," Zuko pleaded desperately with his sister, hoping on some miracle that she might suddenly become compassionate. "Let Katara go, Azula."
Katara was dumbfounded. Was Zuko really that self-sacrificing? Could he really be willing to give himself up just to win her safety? She suddenly gained a new respect for Zuko in that moment, but doubt still lingered in the corners of her mind. Zuko had actually firebended. How was it suddenly possible, unless he had been lying to her this entire time?
The Princess's eyebrows raised in interest as the Prince gave his declaration of compliance, but she didn't seem to take Zuko's request seriously. "Katara? So that's her name."
"Azula, let her go!" Zuko insisted again, the flame in his eyes dimming as hope diminished. "You can do whatever you want with me—just let her leave."
"You're in no position to bargain, Zuko." Came the cruel reply; this time there was no musical quality to it. Only malice. "How about this? I can do whatever I want with you—and maybe then I let her live."
The Prince's mouth opened in an attempt to protest, but at that moment two new figures rounded the giant trunk. Katara recognized them as the two girls that had been chasing them the same day that Azula had struck her brother with lightening. With her wide blue eyes, Katara tried to mentally convey a warning to the Prince, but to no avail. As they approached, the girl with the braid flipped delicately over the long grasses. Zuko barely had time to turn around and form a new firebending stance before she'd delivered a series of quick jabs to his core.
Zuko groaned as he sank to the earth, clutching his chest. Katara attempted another scream, but bit back the sound she felt the long nails of her captor digging into the skin of her face. Azula leaned over her shoulder and smiled at her.
"It was so thoughtful of you to take care of my brother for me," she said, her voice a mixture of sweet and sour. "But it's time for me to take him back for a friendly little Fire Nation reunion. Congratulations: You're invited."
The Princess's smile widened, spreading across her face and showing Katara glimpses of perfect white teeth. Then Azula withdrew and began shouting orders.
"Mai! Ty Lee!" She commanded. "Get our Lizard Hounds. We have to take our 'guests' to the train before we're spotted by another member of their motley crew."
Katara panicked and weakly attempted to struggle. Her retaliation was met with another harsh yank to the arm Azula was holding so tightly behind her back. "Stop struggling and trying to scream," the Princess hissed. "Or the next time I'm going to dislocate your entire shoulder."
The waterbender was too frightened to offer even a whimper in reply, but she regretfully obeyed. Azula forced her to the ground and she and another girl—Katara couldn't tell which with her face pressed into the dirt—worked together to quickly gag, blindfold, and bind her hands and feet. She was completely helpless—couldn't scream, couldn't see, couldn't bend—and Katara suspected Zuko was experiencing the same. Suddenly, she felt her body being lifted, as the Fire Nation girls gossiped to each other heedlessly.
"You know, we here so much about the dark skin and light eyes of the Water Tribes when we learn about foreign culture in school, but I expected them to be prettier than this," One of the girls—Katara recognized the voice as the girl who wore pink and flipped a lot—reported shamelessly. "What do you think, Mai?"
Another voice, this one lower, raspier, and considerably more agitated than the rest replied: "I don't care what she looks like; I just want to get out of the Earth Kingdom and back home. All this place is—is long grass and rock—boring!"
"Hold it, ladies," Katara heard Azula's authoritative voice chime in. "We have captured my fugitive brother—yes—but we haven't yet achieved our other objective."
The girl in pink spoke again—her voice was high and bright, like the tone of a bell. "Other objective? What was that again, Azula?"
Azula noisily sighed. "Ty Lee, do you always have to be so ignorant? Obviously we haven't captured the Avatar yet—but I suspect that if this waterbending girl was around here the rest of her band won't be far away."
Katara felt a wave of relief was over her tense body. So—Azula really didn't know where Aang or the others were. That was good. But she suspected that they were nearby. That was bad, especially considering that neither Aang, Sokka, Toph, or Iroh had been warned about the impending danger.
What are they going to do when they discover Zuko and I gone? The waterbender thought nervously. What are they going to think?
Katara knew what they would think—with her and Zuko disappearing unexpectedly on the same night, no doubt Sokka would immediately begin to suspect that Zuko had tricked them all and had now made off with his sister as a captive. Iroh would defend his nephew of course, and Toph would probably take his side, considering what she knew about the relationship between her and Zuko.
Katara gasped suddenly as she felt herself being thrown roughly over the side of something large—and cold. She felt a spiny ridge pressing into her stomach, and she felt a cool, scaly texture against the side of her face. Then Katara felt the tense, shivering muscles move beneath it and retched silently into her gag. She was folded over the back of a giant lizard. Gross. She felt the huge body shift as its rider slid into place in front of her, and heard Azula's voice again.
"We'll deposit the prisoners on the train, and then begin to formulate a plan to capture the Avatar, my treacherous uncle, and their companions." The Princess ordered, and suddenly, the giant scaly thing under Katara was moving. And judging from how violently she was bouncing against the cool textured skin of the beast, it was moving very fast. She heard the wind whistle loudly in her ears.
It was all she could do—listen. Without sight, Katara had no way of knowing where on earth the Fire Nation trio was taking her. She didn't even know if she and Zuko were being taken to the same place. Katara pricked her ears as she bounced to and fro on the giant lizard's back. She heard the same whistling wind for a long time—and suspected they were crossing the vast plains of the land, then she heard the noisy sloshing of water—and felt the cool droplets mist her face—and determined that they were crossing a river or a stream of some sort. Lastly, she heard the wild whistling of the wind hush to a slight ghostly whisper, and heard the sounds of leaves brushing delicately together. They were in a forest when they finally stopped.
Azula hopped off the animal, grabbed Katara roughly by the collar of her robe, and threw her carelessly to the ground like a piece of trash. The waterbender grunted and then groaned in pain when she landed awkwardly on her shoulder. She was then lifted and carried by two of the girls. She listened to their footsteps—first they resounded with the fragile crunching of pine needles, and then reduced to rhythmic steps on thick chunks of metal. She was inside—something—Katara suspected it was that awful-looking, blackened piece of machinery that had been chasing them endlessly weeks beforehand. Or possibly a hidden Fire Nation outpost. She grunted again as she was dropped sloppily onto the cold metal surface. Then the girls left, leaving Katara still blind, mute, and terrified. She began to worry that they had separated her from Zuko.
Even if he was lying to me about firebending before—he tried to save me—and I'd be thankful to have anybody's company in a situation like this, Katara thought to herself.
Finally, the footsteps returned, and this time they dropped another load quite close to Katara on the floor. Then one of the girls removed her gag and lifted the blindfold and Katara blinked at the sudden burst of harsh light flooding her eyes. Gradually, her vision returned to her, and she made out the space that she had been discarded in. The first thing she noticed was the riveted, black walls that surrounded her on all but one side. The last side was nearly the same, but it had set in its middle a thick, grey, metal door with a small glass window, where the beam of light was coming from. She noticed that the door didn't have a knob or a handle on the inside, and glanced up as the girl who had freed her face from it's uncomfortable binds—the dark-haired, bored-looking one—slipped out of it into whatever brightly-lit room that laid beyond.
Katara blinked again, and then turned her head, her eyes searching the space she'd been imprisoned in. She looked to her right—just another black wall. She glanced to her left, and saw the Fire Nation Prince—bound just like she was—sitting next to her in silence, with intensity in his eyes.
"Zuko?" she asked stupidly, as if she believed the sight of him to be some trick of light.
"Shh!" The Prince barely flinched at the sound of his name, but instead kept his eyes locked on the door.
Katara was shocked for a moment at his rudeness—but then she noticed the barely audible voices coming from just behind the metal door.
"Are you sure you want to keep them together in there, Azula?" said the raspy-voiced, dark-haired girl. Unlike before, her voice carried and ever-so-slight notion of concern.
Katara heard the Fire Nation Princess scoff. "Oh, Mai—are you jealous? Don't concern yourself with my brother anymore. He's a fugitive now, after all. We only have one cell in this stupid thing anyway."
"Yeah, you should really commission the royal engineers to make you a larger train, Azula." The last to chime in was the girl with the bell-like voice.
There was a short pause, and Katara and Zuko strained their ears to hear the next bit of conversation. Finally, the Fire Nation Princess spoke up—unfortunately, it was news neither of them wanted to hear.
"Let's go outside," she said, in a tone that made the casual suggestion seem more like a strict order. "I don't want them to overhear us—and we need to create a plan to capture the Avatar and the rest of the fugitives."
As they listened to the three girls step out of the door to the outside, Katara turned her eyes towards Zuko. The Prince's eyes fluttered slowly down to the metallic surface of the floor. After staring in the same spot for a few awkward moments, he looked up shyly at the waterbender.
"This is my fault," he told her, but Katara wasn't really concerned with whose fault it was that they were both stuck in this situation.
She injected a dose of anger into her gaze. "You lied to me," she insisted. "You told me you couldn't firebend and then you did."
Zuko blinked, seeming surprised and hurt by her accusation. "You don't understand—I didn't know I had it back!"
"How couldn't you? And how could you have done that if your chakra had been blocked? I felt it—it couldn't have been that you'd just been hiding it from me all this time! What did you do?"
"I—I don't know," Zuko stammered, unsure of what to tell the waterbender.
Katara continued her tirade: "Have you been hiding it? And why? Where you planning to kidnap Aang all along? How did you firebend when Azula grabbed me?"
"I told you!" Zuko finally blurted, a little too loudly to get his point across. "I don't know!"
The firebender looked away from Katara, staring again at the floor and shifting uncomfortably against his binds. "All I know is that I was resting by the tree, waiting for you to get there, and then I heard a noise. I turned around and saw Azula practically choking you—and my immediate reaction was to firebend. I guess I forgot that I'd lost my bending, but then I actually saw the flames."
"I thought Azula was burning me up!" Katara interrupted, upset remembering the moment she'd thought had been her last.
Zuko glanced up at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that I could bend until it happened."
"Well, as long as you can firebend again, can you burn our bonds so we can at least move?" Katara asked, still with a slight bite in her voice.
She looked expectantly at the former Prince, but Zuko's eyes sank once more to the ground for a few tense moments, then back up again. His eyes were filled with fiery frustration.
"That's the thing," he said softly and regretfully, "I don't think I can do it again."
Katara's brow furrowed. "What? What kind of an excuse is that?"
"It's not an excuse!" Zuko insisted, his eyes burning like smoldering embers. Then they grew softer. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but I could feel the blocked chakra inside of me whenever I would try to firebend before. I could feel the energy flow inside me—then stop when it came to that point. But when I saw Azula hurting you, it was like that barrier lifted for just a few seconds. After that, I felt it close back down. I don't think I could do it again."
Zuko watched as an expression of doubt passed over the waterbender's face. "I'm being sincere!" he told her firmly. "I wouldn't lie to you—you're the first person since my uncle who's ever trusted me."
Katara's expression didn't fade, but she allowed the firebender one last chance to explain himself. "Okay…then tell me honestly why you think that you're firebending came back only for a few seconds and then was blocked again."
Zuko's eyebrow turned up, he frowned unpleasantly, and for once he felt completely helpless. Gradually, his eyes dragged back down to the floor. He remembered the moment he'd first heard Katara's muffled whimper. It was barely audible, but he'd reacted quickly. When he saw Katara being held tightly by his sister, his heart had swelled with fear—and another, less recognizable, but equally strong emotion.
Zuko knew exactly why his firebending had so suddenly reappeared and then disappeared again when he knew Katara was in danger. He remembered learning about chi and the seven different chakras at the Fire Nation Royal Academy as a boy, and now he was finally beginning to put the mystery together.
The fourth chakra is located in the heart, he repeated his teachings to himself. It deals with love and grief.
The firebender's eyes flickered back towards Katara. Love and grief.
I understand…he thought as the realization flickered in his mind. But I don't want to accept what is happening to me—and my heart. When Uncle told me that I needed to try to open my heart to others, I never meant for this to happen.
"Well, are you going to tell me or not?" Katara cut into his wandering thoughts impatiently.
"I—I can't," Zuko felt like he was choking on his own words.
"Why not?!" Katara grew angrier when she couldn't push an answer from the Prince. "And if you can't give me a straight answer then what's supposed to keep me from assuming you've been lying!"
"Because I told you—you're the only person whose ever trusted me besides my uncle—I wouldn't risk that!"
"That sounds like something a liar would say."
"I'm not a liar!"
Katara's eyebrows lowered. "Then what are you, Zuko?"
The Prince's voice caught in his throat once more, and he could only stare blankly at the waterbending girl. He bit his lip nervously while Katara continued to seethe at him. The girl being difficult was only making this harder, and right now they really needed to concentrate on how they would break out of here and escape from Azula instead of interrogating him on why his firebending had suddenly returned.
"Can't we concentrate on escaping from my sister?" He asked softly.
"No!" Katara yelled. "You forget that I trusted you too, Zuko! How can I concentrate on anything else if I can't trust you?"
"But you can trust me!" Zuko persisted, leaning forward and grinding his teeth together. "Please, Katara! We don't have much time!"
"Why can't you tell me?!"
"Because I just can't right now, okay?!" Zuko finally admitted in a shout that seemed to rock their metal cage. Finally, Katara was silent and stayed that way.
"I promise I'll explain it to you as soon as we escape and then we can warn Aang, my uncle, and the others about Azula," Zuko promised genuinely, and he turned his eyes pleadingly towards the girl. "Please, Katara."
Katara blinked in surprise and shock. "Do you—do you really want to help Aang? You don't sound like the Zuko I remember."
"That's because I'm not that person anymore," the Prince elaborated. "I mean—I'm not going to try to be best friends with the Avatar—Aang—or anything, but I've earned your trust and if keeping it means that I have to give up my quest to capture him, then it's worth it."
Zuko sighed heavily and then glanced away. "At least, that's what I think."
"Do you really mean that?" Katara inquired, amazed at this sudden revelation in the firebender's character. "You think keeping my trust is worth the possibility that you'll never be welcome in your homeland again?"
Zuko's eyes grew dim with sadness, but he was determined. "Yes," he pledged quietly.
Katara allowed a small smile to grace her lips. Zuko watched as the corners of her mouth curved gracefully upward, framing her white teeth with those inviting lips of hers. He wondered again what it would be like to kiss those lips, but then dismissed the thought. He and Katara had to concentrate on escaping from this place.
"I guess you can keep my trust for now," she said, her smile growing a little wider. "But when we escape, you'd better have a pretty impressive explanation for your firebending coming back."
You have no idea, Zuko thought whimsically to himself.
"Alright then," Katara seemed to have adopted a much better mood quite suddenly. "So—any ideas on how to get out of these bonds without firebending?"
Zuko felt an idea settle in his head. "Here, scoot close to me, so we're back to back."
"Why?"
"Didn't you just decide to trust me?"
Katara made a face, but then nodded. "Point taken."
Slowly, the waterbender moved her body—first coiling her legs close to her torso, using the leverage she had to shift herself into position. Zuko did the same, and after a few awkward, squirming seconds they were back to back.
"Okay, now what?"
"Give me your hands,"
Katara's breath caught in her throat. "What?!"
"Just trust me," Zuko ordered her.
Nervously, Katara moved her hands behind her, stretching the muscles in her back so Zuko could reach. "Can you reach them?"
"Just a second. I can't see."
After a minute of searching for each other, Zuko finally reached out and grasped one of Katara's bound hands with his own. His fingers intertwined with hers almost immediately, and Katara was thankful that she wasn't facing the Prince as she felt the heat crawl up her neck and fill her cheeks. She was blushing, but Zuko seemed unmoved.
He continued moving his fingers around her own, feeling and searching, until Katara realized his goal—he was looking for the ends of the rope Azula had tied her up with. When the firebender found them, he worked quickly and quietly to undo the complex knot that bound her wrists together. Finally, she felt the bonds loosen and drop away. Sighing, she raised her hands in front of her face and examined her wrists. They weren't very painful, but there were harsh red lines circling her arms where they had been tied.
"Now undo the knots around your ankles and then help me," Zuko said, glancing at her over his shoulder.
"Okay, okay—give me a second," Katara leaned forward and hastily undid the ropes tied around her ankles, then turned around and began to work on Zuko's binds.
"Thanks," he muttered as he broke free of his ties.
"Now how to we get out of here?" Katara asked him, looking worriedly at the firebending Prince. "And where are we anyway?"
Zuko looked around the small cell they were trapped in. "We're on a train, apparently. At least that's what I heard Ty Lee say."
"Those Fire Nation girls? You know them?" Katara inquired curiously.
Zuko blinked, recalling memories of his childhood. "They're my sister's best friends since child hood. I've known them my entire life."
The waterbending girl made a face. "Don't they—don't they—you know, have conflicting feelings about capturing you then?"
Zuko looked towards the door. Katara had a way of coming up with the most unexpected questions. She actually tested how much knowledge he had about himself. "I don't think they care," he explained. "I mean, I'm a fugitive now. Not the Prince they knew."
"Oh," Katara replied awkwardly.
"Well, actually—Mai probably feels bad about it," Zuko reconsidered with a small smile.
Katara glanced at him with questions swimming in her sea-colored eyes. "Which one is she?"
"The dark one who looks bored all the time."
"Ah—that one," Katara nodded thoughtfully. "Why would she feel bad about capturing you?"
Zuko shrugged and continued his shy, embarrassed smile. "She's had a crush on me ever since we were little."
The waterbender's lips parted, but she said nothing in response. It was strange, thinking that Zuko had had a normal life years ago—well, besides from being royalty and having an evil, malicious, and power-hungry father and sister—and that even he had girls crushing on him be for he'd been disgraced, banished, and eventually labeled a criminal. She recognized the pinch of jealousy on her conscious, but it was slight, and easily brushed aside to concentrate on the issue at hand.
"I don't have my water skin, so I don't think I'm of any use to break us out of here," she admitted to the Prince with a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry."
"I'm not any good for bending either, remember."
Katara hung her head when she realized. "Oh yeah. Great—neither one of us have our bending. How on earth are we going to get out?"
"I—I don't know," the firebender whispered. "I guess we just have to wait for a miracle to happen."
Katara stood up and turned towards him, her hands placed on her hips. "Yeah right—like something like that will happen anytime soo—oo-woah!"
Suddenly the floor, walls, and ceiling of their small cell rocked violently. Katara tried to hold her footing, but she slipped and fell directly into Zuko's arms. As the cell was shaken by yet another brutal jolt, he held her tightly to his chest. Katara would have blushed even more furiously than before had she not been so afraid. It was if the world was turning end upon end. They slid, then rolled, then fell, and heard bits of the chaos that was taking place outside their tiny metal prison: shouts, screams, and the sounds of rocks, iron, and steel smashing together.
"We must be being—ah! Attacked!" Zuko yelled to Katara over the din.
Suddenly the cage turned over one last time, settling on its side with a mighty, loud creak of bending beams and metal. Katara had closed her eyes during the violent attack, but now she opened them curiously when she felt a weight upon her stomach and chest. Almost immediately she wanted to shut her eyes tightly again and pretend she wasn't there.
Zuko was on top of her. Not just on top of her, but his arms were still wrapped tightly around her shoulders and head, protecting her from the violent movements of their cell as it tumbled to and fro. On top of it all, their legs were intertwined and tangled, so she couldn't scoot out of the tiny space Zuko left for her when he finally lifted his body off hers.
Katara was mortified. She felt the blush creeping up onto her cheeks, and she looked away from the Prince, attempting to will it away. But the pinkish stain filled her face with warmth, and this time she couldn't pretend or try to hide it from him. Even though she turned her head away and her dark hair fell gracefully part of her face, she'd known that Zuko had seen her reaction. But the Fire Nation Prince seemed frozen in place, and he didn't move a muscle. Katara wondered how long he would stay like that before she finally worked up the courage to look at him. To her surprise, she saw a reddish flush—very similar to hers—filling Zuko's cheeks. Not only was he embarrassed, but he looked quite shocked finding himself on top of the girl.
The two benders' eyes met for a split second and it instantly snapped them from their humiliated stupor.
"Sorry!" They both muttered to one another at the same time, scooting as far away from their opposite as they could.
Katara once again found herself too afraid and embarrassed to even glance at the firebender after that encounter. She pulled her legs close to her chest and tucked herself into a corner that had once connected the wall to the ceiling. Then she heard Zuko softly call her name.
"Katara," he said in a strange, hushed manner. "Look!"
The waterbending girl looked curiously at Zuko, wondering what he could be in such awe of, but then he lifted a single, pointed finger and gestured to the door of their cell—now sideways—and hanging wide open. Katara felt the cool night breeze kiss her face, and she turned towards Zuko. All trace of his embarrassment had already gone, and his eyes glowed with intensity in the dim light.
"I want you to run as fast as you can, in any direction, okay?" He told her intently. "I'll be right behind you."
"Okay," Katara nodded, but somehow couldn't produce the will to get her shaky legs to begin moving.
When he saw the girl wasn't ready to run, Zuko got up and quickly crossed the room. Katara watched him with wide, surprised eyes as he reached down and grasped her hand in his tightly.
"Come on," the Prince urged, and with a sharp yank he pulled her out of the cell and into the moonlight.
Katara jumped gingerly from the damaged cage onto the softy, dewy grass. Zuko, despite what he had previously said, wasn't running. He pressed himself tightly to the outside of the cell—which by now Katara had positively identified as one of the giant iron cars that that hideous "train" had pulled behind it—and looked around with his candlelit eyes. The waterbender followed his lead, and she took in the surroundings.
They were in a forest, as she had theorized on their journey here. Ancient, immensely tall pine trees surrounded them; their fresh, crisp scent filled Katara's nostrils. The sound of their footsteps was muffled, replaced with a soft crunching of wet pine needles. And all around them—the waterbender noticed—was the evidence of a battle.
There were scorch marks marring the trunks of nearby trees—small fires still blazing here and there, their light casting eerie, flickering shadows amongst the host of gargantuan trees. Furthermore, there were boulders and various sizes of rocks littering the site—and Katara caught sight of what looked to be an Earth Kingdom soldier's helmet on the ground.
Zuko went ahead and said what they both were thinking. "Azula and the others must have been ambushed by Earth Kingdom forces."
"Do you think they saw us?" Katara whispered.
The Prince shook his head. "If they'd known about prisoners, I'd think that they would have freed them."
"But they did kind of free us."
"I don't think it was intentional," Zuko replied grimly. "My sister and the others must have led them somewhere away from here."
The Prince turned to Katara and grasped her hand again. The waterbender tried her very hardest not to blush as he pulled her closer to him.
"We have to go—quickly—now," he whispered softly, looking into her azure eyes. "Whatever you do, don't stop running until I tell you to."
Katara nodded, and then she felt a tug on her arm. Before she knew it, she and Zuko were moving swiftly through the forest, hand-in-hand, and their feet flying over the crisp pine needles. The wide, dark trunks of trees passed on either side like hundreds of columns in an ancient, earthly temple. Katara felt her heart beating wildly against the wall of her chest, and she looked ahead of her at the Fire Nation Prince. Her eyes wandered from the back of his head to his shoulder, all the way down his arm to their fingers, tightly intertwined with each other. Her knuckles were turning white from clutching his hand so tightly.
He doesn't have to be holding my hand through all of this, she thought. And what he said before—about my trust being worth giving up hunting Aang—why is he acting like this?
Katara remembered what Toph had said this afternoon. She could practically feel the gears in her brain turning, but suddenly her thought process was interrupted when she felt something whistle right past her ear.
"Ah!" She cried, and looked up in time to see two metal darts embed themselves deeply into the trunk of a nearby tree. She gasped when Zuko suddenly skidded to an abrupt stop and turned around to face the new threat on hand.
"Mai!" Zuko thought out loud as he realized who was coming for them, weaving her way through the expanse of tree trunks at a high speed, her voluminous robes flowing behind her.
"Zuko, I don't have any water!" Katara yelled at him in a panic.
Zuko stepped out in front of her, pushed her back, and adopted a firebending stance. "Remember, she doesn't know that I can't firebend," he whispered to her as Mai grew closer.
The dark-haired girl leapt over a fallen sapling as she closed in on the unlikely pair. She raised her arms, and from her long sleeves produced several sharp, shining metal knives. Katara grew more and more frightened for their safety as the other girl grew closer and closer and still Zuko didn't do anything. He just stood there, feigning a firebending stance, unmoving. But—she trusted Zuko for now—as she had promised.
Sure enough, even when she was well within range, Mai failed to throw the knives held tightly in her hands. She ran closer, until she was mere meters away from the couple of benders—then suddenly came to a halt, panting from her long felt the air grow tense. What was Zuko waiting for? Was he waiting for her to come close enough for him to attack her physically? Was he planning on trying to use firebending again? She shrank back as Zuko gradually relaxed his stance and faced the girl from his childhood. Her steely gaze collided with his, and for a moment the two Fire Nation youths were frozen in place by their stares. Finally, Zuko cleared his throat and spoke.
"Mai," Zuko whispered again; this time it sounded almost as if the name caused him pain. "I'm sorry about all this."
The girl's eyes narrowed into slits. "So am I, Zuko—but you were the one who made the choice to betray your country and your friends."
"I didn't want to betray you," the Prince replied honestly.
"Well you did!" Mai's voice gathered in intensity as she continued. "We were friends once—we could have been more—but now you've reduced yourself to this." She spit out the last word as if it were poisonous.
"Then I must ask you—in the name of our friendship—if you'll let us go," Zuko urged her adamantly. "Mai, please."
The girl's eyes flashed a dangerous look towards the both of them and she raised her hand up again, the edges of her knives reflecting sharply in the darkness. "I can't let you do that," she said somewhat sadly.
"Mai—I'm telling you—you don't want to do this," Zuko took a hesitant step back as the girl prepared to throw. "Don't!"
"I'm doing what I have to do, Zuko," she replied coldly, and then curved her arm in a swift, deadly arc that sent her daggers flying towards them.
Katara screamed, but her cry was cut short when she felt something impact her chest. She tightly shut her eyes and waited for the pain to strike her, for the wound to ooze warm blood—but she felt none. She opened her eyes and realized that—once more—Zuko had shielded her from danger using his own body. She grabbed her by the collar and pulled her behind him before any one of Mai's knives could hit her. A sudden terror took over Katara's mind, even as she felt relief wash over her when she realized she was uninjured.
What about Zuko?
She blinked and stared at the Prince, who was till standing in front of her, turned towards her, and panting. She had unintentionally placed her hand upon his chest when he'd unexpectedly grabbed her, and she could feel his strong heartbeat thundering wildly against his rib cage. But he didn't seem to be in any pain. She looked past the firebender's shoulder and glimpsed Mai, her head hung low, her eyes downcast and hidden behind her thick, black bangs. A glint of metal caught the corner of her eye and she turned he head to see the daggers their pursuer had held in her hands just moments before. They were embedded deeply into the trunk of a tree trunk just behind her, inches away from where she and Zuko were standing.
Mai had missed—but she was only a few feet away. Katara looked again at the dark-haired, narrow-eyed girl standing solemnly in front of them.
Zuko seemed as disbelieving as the waterbender was. He turned around and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out for a moment or two. Then, when his voice finally returned to him, he could only quietly utter her name.
"Mai," he murmured, his voice a mixture of awe and surprise.
The girl momentarily raised her dark head to glance at them from under lowered eyebrows. "Take her and get out of here. The river is straight ahead. Once you cross it Azula should lose your trail."
Zuko took another reluctant step back, and turned partially towards Katara, glancing in the direction of the river through the maze of trees. Then he looked back at his childhood friend affectionately.
"Mai, thank you," he said softly.
Mai inhaled sharply at the comment, but then glanced away. "Don't thank me, just get out of here! Run!" Her cries were the only thing Katara and Zuko needed to get moving again.
The Prince turned to the waterbender, his eyes glowing intently, and whispered: "Go."
Katara allowed him to grasp her hand one more time and pull her through the curtain of darkness that surrounded them. She looked back over her shoulder to see the still, statuesque figure of Mai fading away from view. Then she turned back, gathered her strength, and continued running.
She didn't look back a second time.
PERSONAL THINGY:
I'M PRETTY UPSET RIGHT NOW, BECAUSE I JUST FINISHED TYPIING UP ALL OF MY REVIEWER RESPONSES TO YOU GUYS--AND MY STUPID COMPUTER CRASHED ON ME. NONE OF MY RESPONSES TO THE REVIEWS YOU GUYS LEFT ME WERE SAVED, AND I SPEND LIKE AN HOUR TYPING THEM UP! I'M ANGRY! GRR...
WELL, SINCE I DON'T HAVE ANOTHER HOUR TO TYPE THEM ALL AGAIN, I'M JUST LEAVING THEM OUT FOR NOW. BUT PLEASE KNOW WITH CERTAINTY THAT I TYPED UP EACH OF YOU SOME REALLY NICE, REALLY THANKFUL REVIEWS! I'M GOING TO RESUME MY REGULAR PRACTICE OF RESPONDING TO REVIEWS NEXT CHAPTER--SO PLEASE, EVEN THOUGH I DIDN'T RESPOND TO YOU THIS TIME, PLEASE REVIEW TO TELL ME HOW YOU LIKED (OR DISLIK,ED) THIS CHAPTER! I ALSO LOST ANY CHANGES I MADE TO THE ACTUAL STORY BEFORE SUBMITTING IT--SO I APOLOGIZE IF THERE ARE SLIGHT SPELLING MISTAKES OR TYPOS YOU NOTICED.
ONCE AGAIN, I'M SO, SO SORRY FOR THE LACK OF REVIEWER RESPONSES ON THIS CHAPTER. REPLYING TO YOU GUYS IS IMPORTANT WITH ME, BUT TECHNOLOGY IS UNPREDICTABLE--AND NEXT TIME I'LL KNOW TO PRESS THE "SAVE" BUTTON.
SO AS A GENERAL REPLY TO ALL OF MY REVIEWERS, THANK YOU! YOU ARE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU SO PRECIOUS TO ME! YOUR KIND WORDS AND RANDOM RAMBLINGS ABOUT TWILIGHT (EDWARD!) AND READING ANALYTICALLY AND ABSOLUTE GORGEOUSNESS REALLY TOUCH MY HEART. I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING FROM ALL OF YOU AGAIN!
~ROSEBLADE