A/N:

WARNING!

THIS CHAPTER IS RATED "M"

Sexual situations, violence.

Zuko woke from his sleep the second sunlight began to pour onto his face from the still uncovered window. Katara had turned sometime during the night, her back pressed up against his chest and his left arm held tightly around her small waist. He had also stretched his right arm out and she had of course managed to lay her head down onto it, cutting off the blood circulation. His arm was tingling and he let out a groan of discomfort as he propped himself up on his elbow and leaned over her.

Even with dark circles around her eyes, even with her sunken in cheeks, her left with a small, thin line of pink, puffed up skin taking place the cut she had earned herself earlier on the pirates boat, even with her hair a mess, Zuko was sure she was one of the most beautiful, exotic girls he had ever laid eyes on. Her tan skin was soft and smooth and her thick brown hair, though it sort of looked like a rats nest this morning, jumbled up and knotted with the ribbon she had tied it up with the day before, still managed to look absolutely perfect as it cascaded over her cheek and shoulder. He lightly ran his hand over her cheek, brushing the hair out of her angelic face. She furrowed her brow and groaned before opened her eyes to slits, squinting to try and shield her tired eyes from the sun's rays.

"What are you doing?" She mumbled, noticing Zuko had been gawking at her. She rubbed her eyes and turned over onto her back, stretching as she did so. He smiled and leaned down to nuzzle the crook in her neck.

"We have to work for Mr. Hitomu today." He informed.

She scoffed and furrowed her brow at him just as he lifted himself to look at her. "I thought you said you made five gold pieces?"

"I did,"

"Then why would we still have to work for Hitomu? Just pay him!" It was Zuko's turn to furrow his brow at her, and he did so as he sat up, crossing a leg over the other.

"He's old and probably needs the help, we told him that we'd work for him. What, you want to stay here and laze around all day?" Katara sat up and glared at him.

"No, I want you to stay here and laze around all day! You worked all day yesterday.. did you even have anything to eat, Zuko?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Zuko huffed and rolled his eyes at her. "I wasn't hungry."

"I don't care if you were hungry or not, Zuko," Her face scrunched with annoyance as her words flew from her mouth. "You need to eat!" She hopped off the bed and took an apple from the bag they had gotten from the Fire Nation village a day ago, he turned and watched her, wondering what she was planning on doing with that apple.

"Katara, I-" She shoved the apple into his mouth before he could finish his sentence. He glared and snarled at her, taking a bite out of the apple as he lowered it from his mouth. She smiled and placed a knee on either side of his hips, sitting down into his lap as she lightly put her arms over his shoulders and around his neck.

"Eat," She whined before she placed a small kiss onto his lips. He continued to glare, but swallowed the piece of fruit anyways. Katara smiled as she took his cheeks into her palms and brought his lips down to hers, giving him a big kiss, ending it with a 'mwah' sound. "I'm going to go get ready," She groaned as she lifted herself off him, annoyed with the fact that they were still going to go work for their stay, even though they could easily pay for it with the money he had earned from the day before. "Finish eating!" She ordered, glaring at him over her shoulder as she slipped into the washroom to shower and change.

!

After Katara showered and dressed, Zuko also changed his clothes before walking with her down to the front counter, sure it was about time to meet up with Hitomu to begin their work.

At the front desk stood a young woman neither of them recognized, and Zuko asked her if Mr. Hitomu was around. She informed that he was already in the storage room, and she escorted them from the front desk to the back storage room.

As they made their way through the halls of the Inn, Zuko leaned over to Katara and told her to not call him by his actual name, if anyone were to hear that the Prince of the Fire Nation was in their village, it could possibly start trouble, and make it easier for the pirates to find out about exactly where they had managed to run off to.

"Ah, good morning," Hitomu greeted, looking at the couple over the boxes he had stacked in his arms. The young woman had lead them to a back room that was obviously built after the Inn, extending the storage area. In the far left corner of the room, the wall and ceiling had been smashed into by a tree during a storm. "I'll have you help me with the wall and ceiling repairs," He said, pointing towards Zuko. "And you can do the organizing, little lady."

Katara nodded, noticing the boxes were marked with the name of the item they held. These boxes were filled with the complementary soaps and bath items, paper pads, feather pens, inkwells, some had the sheets, pillows, and towels folded into them.

Zuko was relieved to see that he wasn't going to have to any heavy lifting, the boards of wood were pretty light and thin, making it easy for him to work with his sore muscles. They removed the tarp that covered the gap in the wall and roof to begin their work.

It didn't take too long to patch up the wall, it was just turning afternoon once they had finished it and Katara had managed to organize a good half of the boxes They all worked in silence until Hitomu finally gathered up enough courage to ask what had happened to the young mans arms and where he and the girl had traveled from.

Zuko sat on the roof, hammer in hand, frozen. Katara gently placed a box that was full with ceramic plates down onto a shelf and looked up at him through the gap in the ceiling. She watched as he slipped through the gap and stood still, staring off into space.

"I need to go sit down." He said lowly, pressing past both Hitomu and Katara, desperately trying to force the memories from his mind. Katara gabbed his hand before he could leave, but his fingers slipped from hers as he glided through the door.

"I didn't mean to upset him," Hitomu apologized, looking down to Katara. She bit her lip as she looked back up at him.

"It-it's bad," She fidgeted as her eyes darted around the room, she was having trouble pushing the memories out of her mind as well.

Hitomu nodded and began helping her sort through the boxes of goods while Zuko was out. "I was in the Earth King's Army," He began softly. "Nearly died a couple of times," He said, turning his arm and head to show Katara the battle scars on his arm and neck. "I almost had to return, but my son knew how much this Inn meant to me, and he took my place, brave young man he is." Hitomu stood upright and looked around the room as he sighed, overwhelmed by nostalgia. "This has been my one and only dream, to manage my own Inn, a place of refuge, give people a nice place to stay for a couple of nights." Katara nodded and carefully placed a couple of plates down onto their designated shelf before turning on her heel, leaving the room to find Zuko.

She found him sitting just outside beside the storage room door, knees pulled up to his chest, face buried into his arms. "Zuko," She whispered softly as she sat in front of him, wiggling her way into his arms.

"I've had terrible nightmares and flashbacks of my banishment since it happened, now I have to deal with even worse ones thanks to those stupid pirates." He mumbled into her shoulder. Katara simply ran her fingers through his hair and held him close to her, comforting him in silence.

They sat there for a while, until Katara figured that they had better get back to work. They nearly had it all completed, it wouldn't be long now until they had everything done. "We should continue working," She whispered, "Keep you busy, try to keep your mind off it." She leaned back to look at him and he nodded, slowly standing, holding out a hand to help her up.

As they entered the room, Hitomu turned and gave a light smile before stating that he had began to think that he had lost them. Katara shook her head and smiled back as she began organizing again, Hitomu had organized a small chunk while her and Zuko had been out in the hall. Zuko went back to work silently.

After finishing up on the roof and having to go around the building to get back into the Inn's storage room, Zuko stood in the door way and informed Katara and Hitomu that he had made plans to continue working for Master Takumi. Just as he turned to leave, Katara managed to grab him by his upper arm.

"Don't stay out so late again," She ordered, giving his arm a small squeeze. He turned towards her and nodded. "Promise me." She demanded as she took a step towards him, her eyes already filling with worry.

"I promise." He said softly, turning to continue his trek over to Takumi's shop across the street.

This time, Zuko was sure to let the door hit the bell when he entered the shop. Takumi made his way from the back room and motioned for Zuko to come on in. He went back to work without a word, sanding down each block of wood the best he knew how.

Zuko continued sanding until dusk, stopping not only for Katara's sake, but for his arms as well. He knew his upper body was going to be giving him some serious pain for the next few days, but he figured this was a good start to regaining the muscle he had lost on the cargo boat. Takumi smiled for the first time since Zuko had began working for him, and guided him back to the money drawer for the other half of his pay.

For the first time, Zuko actually got good look at the old man and his shop.

Takumi was just about as tall Iroh, perhaps even a little shorter. He had a completely bald head, blotched with age spots. He grew a circle beard and had it very well groomed. Him and his clothes were covered in a thin layer of saw-dust, his hands and fingers curved in an odd way, probably well worn down, covered with patches of hardened skin by years and years of sawing, sanding, and whittling.

His shop was filled with shelves that were covered in wooden oddities, knick-knacks, kitchen utensils, small furniture pieces, and even some children toys. Zuko was sure they were all hand-made, all hand-made by Takumi. When Zuko had first met him, he had absolutely no idea as to why this cranky old man would ever be called a Master in any form of art, but now he realized that Takumi was a Master Craftsman.

Zuko turned, continuing to gawk of the countless pieces of work Takumi had done. "Wow," He breathed.

"This store been in me family fer years," This was by far the softest and kindest Zuko had heard Takumi speak. "Along wit' the skill of carvin'. Wood be in my blood, even got some stone in there." Takumi said as he took a light sheet from a glass counter. Zuko walked over and gazed at the different kinds of stone. As he leaned over, a certain stone he didn't recognize caught his eye.

"Excuse me, sir, but what type of stone is this? I've traveled far and have never come across anything like it." Zuko said, pointing to the cluster of stone he was interested in.

Being raised as Fire Nation Royalty, Zuko had seen many different kinds of stone and gem, but never one quite like this one.

Takumi held it up to him and explained that it was a gem called 'blue amber'. No wonder Zuko hadn't seen in it the Fire Nation, the blue that could be seen in the gem would have been thought as of an 'impurity' to the very patriotic people of the Fire Nation. Zuko listened as Takumi went through all the different types of amber and other gems he had in his shop, explaining how to hold them to see the different colors in the best way and where in the world they were most popular. Emerald and Jade he had the most supply of. In his shop he also had a good supply Jasper, a stone Zuko easily recognized due to it's popularity in the Fire Nation along with a few others such as Obsidian, Ruby, and Armadillo-Tiger's Eye.

Takumi also showed him Larimar, a beautiful baby blue colored stone and Peridot, a light green colored stone, and expressed that these two gems were very popular to the people of the Northern Water Tribe and Ba Sing Se. He held up a necklace made of olive green Peridot and gold, telling Zuko that a very high-ranking Noblewoman had ordered this to be made and shipped to her house in the upper most ring in Ba Sing Se.

"And you can carve this, as well?" Takumi nodded and turned towards the counter to carefully returned the necklace he had in his hand back onto it's display stand. He noticed Zuko's eyes still hooked onto the blue amber, and he raised his brow as he looked at the young man over his shoulder.

"Ye interested in it?"

Zuko hesitated and pressed his lips together before answering, "Perhaps, how much would it cost to have it carved?"

"I'll tell ye what," Takumi said as he stood up as straight as his poor, aching back would allow him to while he pointed at Zuko. "Since ye did such a fine job, I'll carve it for ye, for free." Zuko's slowly roamed around the room, deep in thought.

"Thank you for the work and for your offer, I'll have to get back to you on that one, sir." Zuko said as he bowed before turning to leave.

!

Zuko came up to his and Katara's room at the Inn, realizing that he had left the key with her before he went to work for Master Takumi. He sighed, but attempted to slide the door open anyways. To his surprise, it opened. This absolutely horrified him, she wouldn't actually leave the door unlocked, would she? What if she hadn't left the door open and the pirates had came to the Inn and broke the lock? What if they had taken her! Zuko tore the door to their bedroom open as fast as he could. His fear draining from him once he caught sight of the young, female waterbender standing alone in the room with nothing but a bath towel wrapped around her small torso, a startled expression on her face.

"Oh," He said, gently sliding the door closed behind him. "Sorry."

"Goodness, Zuko," She laughed. "Drama queen much?" He scoffed at her teasing and shook his head.

"I thought the pirates had broken the door, seeing as that you hadn't locked it." He growled, scolding her as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I left it unlocked for you," She hissed as she snarled and glared at him. "I wasn't sure if I would be sleeping by the time you got here." She growled, obviously still angry with him for coming home so late the other night.

"Well, I'm here now." He shrugged as he looking away from her.

"Mhm." She hummed.

Katara smiled mischievously as she took a couple of steps towards him, taking his arms and wrapping them around her waist. She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked up into his amber eyes, raising herself up on the balls of her feet to be able to kiss him on the lips, the towel falling from her body as she did. Zuko smiled against her lips and leaned down to deepen the kiss as he held her closer to him. She tilted her head upwards, breaking their lips apart, "Zuko," He gently bit into the skin of her neck, noticing the amount of lust in her voice, realizing just what she wanted. He removed his teeth from her skin and covered her mouth with his, kissing her slowly.

She turned them and pressed all her weight onto him, causing them both to fall onto the bed, their lips never leaving the other's as they landed onto the mattress. She straddled him and gripped his hair between her fingers as she kissed him harder. After a while of continuous kissing, Zuko let out a groan as he turned his face to the right, tearing his lips from hers. Katara panted lightly as she turned and stood to be able to relieve the firebender of his trousers and under shorts. She ran her hand up his hardened length as she swung her leg back over his hips to straddle him again, guiding his tip to her entrance. She let out a moan of pleasure as she lowered herself down onto him, rolling her hips over his after she settled.

Zuko lay relaxed for while, simply enjoying her work before he suddenly turned her onto her back, never leaving her as he did. Using his elbows to keep himself propped up above her, he leaned his head down to latch his mouth onto her neck, sucking on the skin hard enough to leave a mark. She let out a moan and managed to rake her fingers through his hair as he sat up, grabbing her bum with both hands. He lifted her hips up before slacking his arms down, repeating this at steady pace until he shuddered, reaching his climax.

Katara let out a happy sigh as he leaned down low enough for her to easily wrap her arms around him and pull him close. He caught his breath before he turned over onto his right side, facing her. She hummed as she wiggled closer to the Fire Prince, snuggling against him.

He groaned and shifted backwards a bit to be able to look at her, noticing something. "You haven't came yet," He pointed out as he gently grabbed her hip.

"That's okay," She breathed as she closed her eyes, ready to go to sleep.

He turned the waterbender over onto her right side to face her away from him as he pulled her over to him, holding her against his chest. His hand swooped down to the space between her legs, rubbing her until he was able to bring her to her own peak.

They were both able to fall asleep quickly that night.

As always, Zuko woke up before Katara. He turned onto his back to stretch, but immediately regretted these actions. His shoulders and arms were so sore and stiff. He was sure there was some kind of tea that would help remedy this, if only he had listened more carefully to his uncle while he had been going one one of his various tea fact rants.

Zuko hissed as he slowly stretched his muscles, trying desperately to relieve the paint but only bringing more in the process. He sighed and attempted to relax. It was very early in the morning, the sun was only just beginning to rise and he knew Katara will still sleep for a few more hours. What to do while she was sleeping? Or a better question, what to do after she woke? Zuko had earned them ten gold pieces and he figured that they should head down to the docks today in search of a boat in good enough condition to take the to the North Pole. Would anyone even be willing to take them all the way to the North Pole?

He sighed and turn over to his left side, noticing that neither of his arms had gotten caught under one of Katara's cheeks during night. He looked at her over his shoulder, remembering just what had happened the night before. He turned over onto his back again, ignoring his aching muscles as he gazed over her sleeping figure, suddenly wanting her again. Neither of them were dressed, and he figured that he could easily wake her up with the start of round two, but he pushed this idea from his mind. She needed her sleep and he was sure he'd be in pain during, thanks to his sore muscles.

Finally, after hours of laying there, his partner finally began to stir in her sleep, groaning and wiggling about as she tried to get into a more comfortable position. Zuko wrapped his right arm around her waist and pulled her over to him. She twisted in his arm and lay on her back, looking up at him.

"Morning," Katara yawned as she sat up, keeping the sheet over her shoulders. After realizing just how cold it was, she quickly laid back down, resting her cheek and hand on Zuko's chest.

Zuko huffed and rubbed his temple as he complained about needing a shower. "Me too," She sighed, not wanting to leave the warm bed at all, even if it were a few long strides to a hot shower. She sat back up and searched the covers the towel she had wrapped around her the night before. Zuko smirked as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, eyeing the bathroom door.

"We could shower together," At this offer, she froze and began to blush, biting her lip in attempt to not smile. She spotted her towel in the heap of fabrics and wrapped it around her as she stepped onto the floor, gliding over to the bathroom door, slowly opening it as she looked at him seductively over her shoulder.

"We could," She smiled as she slipped through the door, gently closing it behind her. Zuko stood and followed her, locking the door behind him. She hopped into the shower as he turned the water on. They both shrieked at how cold it was and moved as far back against the shower wall as they could, barely out of the shower head's range.

Zuko turned and pulled her in front of him, using her as a human shield against the freezing water. She was from the South Pole, it couldn't possibly be too cold for her. "Hey!" She protested, realizing what he had done. She took his arms and turned him to have his back against the water. He was a firebender, he could easily raise his skin temperature to warm the water against it.

He brought her close to him, holding her tight in his arms as he leaned down to kiss her fully on the lips. He ran his hands all over her body, groping her in random places as he left trails of small kisses all over her face, neck, and shoulders. As he paid a great deal of attention to her body, she returned the favor by focusing on his. Taking water and trying her best to heal the cuts and bruises on his upper torso. The wounds had nearly completed healing on their own and had already began to scar, but she tried her best to clear his back and shoulders up, massaging his sore muscles as she did so.

Zuko lifted her up onto him as he pressed her up against the tiled wall. She immediately moaned as she rolled her head back, loving the way he filled her and made her feel. Surrounded by her element and his arms, she was sure she was invincible. He snickered and tangled his fingers in her hair as he kissed her. After a while of this, he had her stand on her own feet as he turned her to face away from him, taking her from the back as he slid his hand down into her folds to make sure they came together this time.

After finishing washing and drying their bodies, they both stepped out of the shower and Katara began to towel dry her hair as she told Zuko that he should be the one to laze the day away in bed while she went out in search for better fitting, decent looking outfits for them both to replace the dingy, sorry excuse for clothes they had picked out at the Fire Nation village.

He agreed and pulled on a clean pair of pants before slipping into the sheets, relaxing down into the mattress while she put her hair up into a ponytail and dressed. He reminded her to head to the docks to see if anyone had a good looking boat. She nodded and slipped a couple coins into her pocket along with the room key and leaned over him to give him a small peck on the lips before she left, trying to not worry about him too much while she was out.

She took a good while carefully picking out clothes for the both of them, nearly two hours had passed by the time she began making her way back to the Inn. Unlocking the front door and slipping into the bedroom, she smiled as she plucked the top outfit from the pile of new clothes she had bought.

Zuko sat up as she held it out to him, smiling ear to ear. She had picked him out a nice, dark red, long sleeved shirt with gold trimmings and black trousers. He raised his brow and scanned the clothes before focusing on her eyes. He was sure these were made from very nice, expensive fabric.

"Well, do you like it?" She asked, holding the clothes out closer to him. He sighed and stood, taking the clothes in his hands and rubbing the fabric between his fingers.

"Sure, but they look and feel expensive. Why did you buy these?"

"There's a couple fancy restaurants here, so I got us both a nice outfit. I figured we could go out to dinner one night, instead of staying here all the time."

"What?" He tilted his head and furrowed his brow at her. What on earth... "Katara, how long do you think we're staying here? The pirates should be here at any time, actually, I'm surprised they're not here now. You want to go to a nice restaurant and have the chance of a bunch of disgusting pirates bust in and ruin our dinner? Did you even go to the docks like you were supposed to?" He crossed his arms over his chest, balling the clothes up in his fists.

"Well, I just-" She sighed and fidgeted. "I figured- I wanted- I even bought myself some Fire Nation colored clothes. I-..." She trailed off, bringing her gaze down to the floor. Zuko's shoulders dropped, he tossed the clothes onto the bed and took her in his arms.

"No, I get it." He assured. It seemed as though the tables had turned and he was the one worried about getting out of their situation and she was the one blocking out their situation. She just wanted to have a nice, relaxing dinner and not worry for the first time in a long, long time.

Katara sighed and pried herself from his arms and gathered up the clothes she had just bought, folding them nicely onto the window seat. She looked out the window and realized that she should probably go buy a new bag so they would have one for clothes and one for food. She hadn't spent every gold piece she had taken with her, and she had a good bit over silver and copper pieces left over in change.

"I'm going to go back out and get another bag so we can separate the clothes from the food." She sighed as she looked to him over her shoulder. He nodded as he sat back down onto the bed.

She left the Inn for the second time that day, keeping her eyes on the ground. Her face reddened with embarrassment, she felt a bit stupid and silly for buying those clothes and to make matters worse, she couldn't trade them back in and get their money back. Sure, they still had plenty of pieces left over, but the more they had the better. She looked up for the first time since she left the Hitomu's Inn as she came up to the bag shop and noticed a patch of blue in the sea of browns, greens, reds, and blacks. She shook her head. It couldn't be. It couldn't possibly be.

Her heart began to pound in her ears as she quickened her pace. A person in the crowed moved, opening up at clear space between her and this person, and she realized the young man covered in Water Tribe Blue clothes had his brown hair up in a 'warriors wolf tail', his forearms covered with white wrappings, hands covered with blue, fingerless gloves, whale bone clasped around his neck. It was. It had to be.

"Sokka!" Katara squeaked out. She knew she hadn't heard him and she called again after clearing her throat. "Sokka!" He turned and looked over his shoulder, wondering who could possibly be calling out his name. At seeing his face, she knew exactly who it was. It was him! It was her brother! "Sokka!" She screeched and lunged towards him, tackling him back into the bag kiosk he had been standing in front of.

"Katara!" Sokka pried her from him to be able to look at her, to be able to make sure it was really her. She looked so tired, her hair had been cut and her cheeks had sunken in, she had gotten rather skinny and she had an odd glow radiating from her, but it was Katara. It was her, it was in fact, his beautiful baby sister. "Katara!" Sokka tightened his arms around her and cried, shaking against her scrawny frame.

"Katara," Aang piped up, he didn't want to interrupt, but he did want a hug! She pulled away from her brother and wiped her eyes on her sleeve before turning to bring Aang into her arms, hugging him tightly.

"Aang," She sniffled as tears of pure joy and happiness rolled down her cheeks. She pulled away from the avatar, only to be tugged back into her brothers arms. "What are you guys doing here?" She asked, placing her chin on Sokka's shoulder.

"Looking for you!" Aang exclaimed. "We had gone up the shoreline a bit to the West, but came back here to let Appa fill his stomach and rest before we went to the North Pole. We weren't trying to leave you, promise, Sokka just had a dream that told him to go North and he'd find you there."

Katara wiped the tears from her face on her sleeve again and cleared her throat before telling them about how her and Zuko had been planning on heading to the North Pole within the next couple of days. Sokka furrowed his brow and pulled away from his little sister.

"Zuko?" He growled. "He's here?" He didn't care if Zuko was Iroh's nephew, he didn't like the idea of that no-good, stupid, snobby Fire Prince hanging around his sister.

"Yeah," Katara breathed. "Yeah! Yeah he is! Is Iroh still with you!" Her eyes darted back and forth between the two, waiting for either to answer.

"Yeah, he's back at the stalls with Appa and Momo." Aang answered.

"We've got to get him! We've got to bring him to Zuko!" She grabbed Aang by the wrist and tugged, telling him to guide her there. The stalls were near the docks, no wonder she hadn't seen any sign that the avatar had landed in the village. The Docks were a little ways away from the Inn she had been staying at, and so many buildings blocked the view of the stalls. She had stayed in so much she hadn't heard any rumors, and Zuko had been too busy working to hear any.

As soon as Appa laid eyes on her, he gently pounced on her, knocking her down as he licked her, letting her know that he had missed her greatly. She sat up and Momo swooped down from the saddle and perched himself up on her shoulder, chattering in her ear and licking her cheeks. Just as she had stood and dusted the dirt from her shirt, Iroh walked around to Appa's side and stood, surprised he was seeing the young waterbender girl that had been taken with his nephew.

Katara stood straight and looked at him, having trouble placing his exact emotion, she could tell so many were stacking on top of each other. "Zuko's with me," She breathed, her heart was still pounding hard in her ears and she was having trouble controlling her breathing. Iroh's breath caught in his throat and he stiffened. Was she being serious? Was he dreaming, perhaps? "I'll take you to him." She said softly, motioning for them all to follow her.

She guided them through the crowded streets, all the way to the middle block and into Hitomu's Inn.

"Hey, Hitomu." She greeted, waving at him as she passed by, he hadn't been working the desk until after she left to find a bag. He smiled and raised his hand, letting it drop down slowly, wondering why she had three men trailing after her, but he kept his questions to himself.

She unlocked and opened the door slowly, holding it open for her friends and family. She closed the front door behind her and walked over to the bedroom door, pausing before it.

"Uh," She started as she brought her finger tips to her lips, wondering how she should go about reuniting Zuko with his uncle. "Wait here," She whispered, holding a finger over her lips to tell them to keep quiet. She slipped into the bedroom, calling out Zuko's name in a sing-song voice. He was laying down onto the bed, his hands placed behind his head. He opened his eyes as he raised his brow, silently asking her 'what'. "I've got a surprise for you." She smiled, her eyes sparkling. Had she been crying? He shook his head at himself and sat up, throwing the covers off his body as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.

She walked over to the door and waited for him to stand before she slowly began to open it. "If it's another stupid outfit, Katara, I swear I'll-" Zuko froze at the site of his uncle standing before him. "Uncle!" He cried, crashing into him. "Uncle," Zuko cried as he tightened his grip around his uncle, bear-hugging him the best he could. "Uncle, I thought I'd never see you again!" He shook in his uncles arms, trying to keep his composure. "I was so scared," He whispered. "I was so scared." He admitted as he allowed the tears to fall form his eyes.

Iroh hugged his nephew tighter, placing a hand on the nape of his neck. "I thought I had lost you." He whispered as tears streamed down his face.

Katara covered her mouth with her hand as she began to cry again. Sokka immediately took her back into his arms, holding an arm out for Aang to join.

Iroh paused and stiffened, realizing his arms and hands were against more bone than muscle. He gently pushed Zuko away from him, holding out his arms to examine his body. He noticed how much muscle he had lost and how much his stomach and cheeks had sunken in. He raised his brow at Zuko, silently asking him why he had allowed himself to get so skinny.

"They didn't feed us." Zuko informed, knowing exactly what his uncle was thinking. Iroh turned and looked towards Katara, making sure his nephew was being truthful. She nodded as she pulled herself from the web of arms she was in, wiping away her tears yet again.

"You guys should get your stuff," Aang said. "We can catch up on our way to the North Pole." He smiled, finally being able to continue with the plan. They all nodded while Zuko and Katara turned to gather up their things, the few belongings they had. They decided to leave the rag-like clothes and keep the newer ones. They headed back into the market to buy two sleeping bags for each of them.

As they were beginning to head out of the main market square, Zuko remembered something. "Wait," He called, stopping in his tracks. "I nearly forgot something." He turned and guided them to Master Takumi's store. "You guys can wait out here, I'll only be a minute." He said as he slipped through the door, being sure to ring the bell.

After about five minuets, Zuko emerged from the store and nodded, letting them know he was ready to start heading towards the stalls again. But just as they were reaching the docks, Katara spotted someone she did not want to be laying eyes on.

"Oh, no." She breathed, standing still, frozen with fear. The males followed her gaze, setting their eyes on a pair of pirates roaming the docks.

"Hey!" They heard a familiar voice shout out to their left. It was Oh, the Captains right hand man. He had spotted them and pointed at them, alerting the crew.

"Well, well, well," The Captain's voice rang out from their right. "Look at who we have here." He chucked, an evil smirk spreading across his ugly, dirty face. Sokka readied his boomerang as Aang did his staff, Iroh shifted into a stance, while Katara and Zuko both stood frozen, fighting hard against their flashbacks, trying desperately to not let the sudden wave of horrible memories drive them insane.

The Captain growled as he unsheathed his sword, swinging it in the air as he ran towards the group. Aang acted first, sending a gust of wind his way with help of the end of his glider. The two pirates that had been at the docks ran towards them, taking their weapons into their hands as they ran. This shook Zuko from his daze, and he quickly singled one out, sending a fire blast towards him. Sokka handled the other one, throwing his boomerang, nailing him in the forehead, knocking him out easily. Sokka smiled, finally able to protect his sister from harm. Oh and another pirate ran towards them now, Iroh dodging an attack with ease, taking one out with a bit of c.q.c., pulling his arm around to his back. The pirate yelped in pain as Iroh pressed his hand down onto his back, pushing him down into the ground. The pirate was scrawny, and Iroh was able to hold him still without breaking a sweat.

Katara had also left her daze, seeping water from the cold, humid air, singling out Oh, freezing the water beneath his feet, causing him to fall face forward, down onto the hard, cobblestone ground.

They all ignored the crowd, trying to focus on getting these pirates out of their way so they could head back to Appa and Momo at the stalls in peace.

The Captain had managed to dodge the gust of wind Aang had sent at him, and he continued to swing his sword as he pressed forwards towards him. The young avatar did his best to avoid the sword, but the Captain quickly used it to knock Aang's staff from his hand. He paused and gasped, watching his glider be tossed up into the air, landing into the running fountain.

"Aw, man!" He whined, hoping it didn't end up getting too damaged by the fall or the water. Using the monk's distraction to his advantage, the Captain grabbed Aang by the collar of his shirt and pulled him close as he tried to bound his hands together. Aang squirmed and kicked around, but the buccaneer had far more brute strength than the twelve year old did.

Sokka ran over to Iroh, using some rope to bind up the man he had managed to hold down.

Katara smirked as she toyed with Oh, unfreezing the ground to let him gain his footing, only to freeze it again beneath him, causing him to get back up and fall back down repeatedly.

Zuko had the most trouble, the man he had singled out was one of the hardier ones of the pirates, and had simply dodged the fire blast. Grabbing the banished prince by his wrist, he tossed him down onto the ground, dodging a punch as he fell down onto the teens body, pinning him to the ground. Zuko used his fire breath, searing the pirates eyebrows off his face. He growled as he straddled the banished Fire Prince and hit him hard in the mouth, busting his lips wide open. The firebender tried with all his mite to toss the the marauder off him, but he had lost so much strength due to malnutrition, it was useless, the pirate was much stronger than he was and easily over-powered him. The man reeled his arm back as far as he could, putting all of his strength into the blow that would send Zuko into unconsciousness. Feeling the boy go limp underneath him, he continued to hit him for the hell of it.

Aang, while still trying to wiggle out of the Captains arms, managed to catch glimpses of this and called out to Katara. She looked over her shoulder and immediately understood why Aang had called for her.

"Zuko!" She shrieked, horrified by the site, tears welling up in her eyes. The pirates fist was covered in Zuko's blood, both their shirts splattered with it. Had he just killed Zuko? Had he just taken him away from her? Would she even be able to function properly without him? Zuko was the person she needed the most right now, and she wasn't about to let his killer go free.

Her breath caught in her throat and she tensed up as she began to see red. In a blind rage, Katara took a wave of water from the fountain and plucked the pirate off Zuko, freezing him into the wave. She turned to face him, standing in a strong stance as she began to slowly turn her hands towards the other, hardening and expanding the ice as she did so.

The Captain dropped Aang, shocked by the girls power. Sokka and Iroh both stood up from their handled pirate, staring in awe at Katara's waterbending abilities. Aang stood, eyes and mouth wide open, terrified.

The pirate began to pant as the ice began crushing his ribs and lungs. With each breath he took, the more the ice constricted him. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open, at any moment now, his ribs would begin to break under pressure. Time seemed to stand still, and Aang realized what was happening. "She's suffocating him," He whispered. Sokka had seen his lips move, but hadn't caught what he said.

"What?" He asked, turning to face Aang.

"She's crushing his lungs, she's killing him!" He cried, rushing over to her. "Katara!" He stood in front her, taking her shoulders into his hands and shaking her. "Katara! Stop it!" He begged. "Katara! You have to stop! You're going to kill him!" She stood still, eyes set on the man in the frozen wave. "Katara!" Aang began to panic, having no idea how to calm her down, out of her murderous rage. He fidgeted and his eyes darted around, from the terrified faces of the people in the crowd, Sokka, Iroh, the Captains, shocked expressions, to the man turning blue in the block of ice, back to Katara's set in stone figure. Aang slammed his eyes shut, suddenly hearding Gyatso's voice, telling him that all life was important, that all life had value and must be respected as visions of the broken walls of the Air Temple, the empty rooms, the Fire Nation soldiers armor, and Gyatso's skeleton flashed through his mind. "Katara! Stop!" He demanded as his eyes and tattoos began to glow.

Katara fell back, breaking her hold on the ice, suddenly terrified, realizing she had caused Aang to fall into the Avatar State. What would he do to her? His face was twisted in anger towards her, but he raised his hand up, and brought it down, twisting it as he did. The ice melted down into a puddle of water, and the pirate began gasping desperately for air.

Aang rounded up the pirates using earth bending, and hurtled them all into a boat. He didn't know who's it was, if it had any fuel or any other essentials on it, but he didn't care. He used his waterbending to call up a giant wave, sending the pirates far out into the ocean, miles and miles away to the West.

Katara furrowed her brow and looked to Zuko, who lay limp on the ground, blood now pooling on the ground around his right ear. She pushed herself up and bolted towards him, ignoring Aang. The Avatar turned slowly, carefully watching her actions.

She sobbed as she seeped water from the air, covering her hands in gloves made of water, lowering them down to the unconscious fire bender's head. "Zuko," She cried, shaking as she desperately tried to heal him. She pulled her hands away from the sides of his face and slammed her face into her fists. "I don't know anything about the inside of the body!" She cried, hopeless. "Zuko, please!" She begged, bringing his hand to her lips, lacing their fingers together as trails of tears covered her cheeks. Aang could relate to this feeling, being so hopeless when found Gyatso's skeleton at the Southern Air Temple. This pain had also sent him into a blind rage. Understanding, he began to calm down, and slowly but surely fell out of the Avatar State.

Iroh had also ran over to Zuko, leaving Sokka to be the only one to catch Aang before he fell face first into the ground. Sokka caught him by the back of the shirt and held him up, watching as his little sister literally begged Zuko, the Prince of the Fire Nation, once their greatest enemy, to stay with her.

Katara frantically checked Zuko's mouth for damage, after realizing the blood was only coming from his busted lips and a gash on the inside of his cheek, she calmed down tremendously and gathered more water from the air, using it to heal his mouth. Iroh had leaned down to check his nephews heart, relieved to hear a strong and steady beat.

"That pirate knocked him out cold, he'll be out for a while, but he should be fine." Iroh informed softly, trying to keep his composure to help calm the young waterbender down. The retired general slowly and carefully scooped his nephew up into his arms as he turned and began heading back towards the stalls. Katara huffed repeatedly, and covered her face with her hands, sobbing into her palms.

"Katara," Sokka called softly, carefully making his way over to her. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, the sooner we get going, the sooner we get to the North Pole. I'm sure they have healers there." Katara glared at her brother over her finger tips as her face twisted in anger. She could heal! But, not well enough. Her shoulders and face fell. She couldn't do it, she wasn't good enough. She didn't know anything about the inside of the body. Heck, she could barely heal wounds that were outside of the body. "Come on," Sokka mimicked Iroh, and scooped Katara up into his arms, making his way back to Appa and Momo.

Aang lingered behind. He liked Katara. More than a friend. He knew he did, but he hadn't said anything. He felt it was too soon, he even second guessed his feelings towards his waterbending teacher, thinking that it was just a crush. She had been the first girl he had seen in a hundred years! Even if it didn't feel like a hundred years, it was still a hundred years! And she was so beautiful, kind, and smart. Aang retrieved his staff from the fountain and hung his head down, thinking of the days events as he slowly pressed his way through the crowd, making his way back to his friends and pets.

Iroh laid Zuko gently down into the sky bison's saddle, bundling up a bunch of clothes to help support his head. Sokka, even though he didn't want to, or approve, laid his little sister next to the Fire Prince, knowing it was what she wanted. He bit his lip, obviously having a hard time seeing her this upset. He spotted one of their bags and decided to rummage through it in attempt to help clear his mind. This was the food bag and he found a sack of jerky. Of course, he bit into it, not caring who's it was or where it had come from.

Aang used his air bending to gently lift himself up onto Appa's head, taking hold of the reins as soon as he landed. He commanded Appa to lift, but remained in silence for hours into the night.

Iroh and Sokka had fallen asleep by the time Katara had began to stir. Aang looked to her over his shoulder, a somber expression on his tired face. "Katara," He called softly, hoping she was actually awake. She furrowed her brow and he called again. She opened her eyes and lifted her cheek from Zuko's chest.

"Aang?" She mumbled.

"Could you come here?" He asked, motioning for he to sit next to him. She looked around, realizing she was up in the air, on Appa, reunited with her brother and friends. She looked to Zuko and frowned, she was absolutely filled with a mixture of worry and fear. She sighed, but left his side anyways to join Aang.

At first, she sat facing forward, but she quickly turned around to face the saddle to keep an eye on Zuko, just in case the pirates had some kind of flying machine that would allow them to pluck Zuko up and out of the sky bison saddle, taking him away from her. She tried to push the paranoia from her mind and began braiding strands of Appa's fur to distract herself.

Aang, looked down, staring at the water passing below them. He needed to ask, he needed to know. "Katara," He started softly, still staring into the water. "Would you have killed that man?"

Katara glanced over towards Aang before returning her focus to her braids. She pressed her lips together and slammed her eyes shut. She couldn't even bare to think about having one of those horrible, disgusting, perverted, filthy pirates take Zuko away from her. She didn't exactly know what she would have done, she had been seeing red, blinded by rage. Honestly, she didn't know what she would have done, but she didn't want to straight up tell Aang that, knowing it was against everything anyone had ever taught him. "Would you think differently of me if I had?" She asked, slowly turning to face him.

Aang bit his lip and stared into the water. She didn't say 'no'. Would she have done it? Would she gone through with it? He hoped she wouldn't have, he hoped the goodness inside her would have stopped her. He felt as though she was too kind and caring towards people, towards everything to ever take away anything's life.

He huffed as he turned to look at her. "You love him, don't you?" He asked, hoping she hadn't heard the quiver in his voice. She stared, not knowing how to answer... not knowing the answer. She didn't know if she actually loved Zuko or not, everything had happened so fast.

She sighed and turned away from Aang, raking her fingers through the braids she had made. She paused, sitting still, letting out a sigh as she squeezed her eyes shut. "I need him." She whispered, burying her face into the bison's fur.

A/N: PLEASE leave a review and tell me what you think! LONG chapter. Express what you're feeling! What you think, good or bad!