Chapter 14! Dang! That's so many! And thanks for the reviews! Thank you guys so very much :)

I wrote this all in her Pov. I wanted to change it up a little but I'll write in Zuko's again so don't worry!

Don't own ATLA.

~paperbackwriter9

Katara's Pov

The sounds of moving and walking about woke me from my restless dreams. I dreamt of red blood splattered on the white snow, and the sea turning red with blood. The room was quiet except for the people in the hallway outside of the door. Zuko's breathe was no longer on my neck and I turned to see him rolled over on the other side.

As I sat up, my head spun with dizziness and I felt sick at once. My family!

I buried my face in my hands and cried for a few minutes. Then I gathered my strength and left his room without one look at his face.

I put on my robe with the hood and I ate some bread that we had left over. There was a knock on the door and I stared at it frozen on the chair. "Katara?" It was Iroh, and I breathed out and whispered come in. "How are you my dear?"

Without answering him, I felt the tears start to fill again. He set tea down on the table and I nodded my head with a thank you. Since the curtains were still closed, the room was just barely filled with light. I brought the cup to my lips and forced myself to drink it. "I can not express how sorry I am." I played with a loose string on my sleeve and looked down. "When I lost my son..." He stopped and I looked up. He lost a son? "A parent should not have to bury their own child... My nephew can easily be blamed for this, but you must know we did not plan for it this way."

"I know," I said and bit my lips to hold back tears. He stood and bowed and I felt my heart sink.

"I should leave you alone. Zuko will come with the coins he promised you and you may leave," and he bowed again and I felt calmer with these words.

"Thank you," and he held up his hand.

"Thank you Katara. You have changed my nephew for the better. It is strange but yet he may have found the difference to what is right and what is wrong," and he left quietly. Did I really do that? Did I change Zuko? He seemed the same to me as before, but I wasn't sure how he acted before I met him.

I drank the rest of the tea and opened the curtains. The light filled the room and I sat there on a chair facing the window. I could see the dust glimmer in the sunlight, and I focused on watching it swirl around in the air. I focused on this rather than the thoughts of the terrifying journey home.

My eyes opened and closed ever so often and I turned the chair to face away. My back was warmed by the sun and I felt the calm feeling return.

"Katara?" Zuko said from outside my door and he opened it. "I have your money, as promised." He held the sack in his hands and slowly handed it to me.

"Thank you." We stood there in silence with the dust floating between us and my tears did not fall this time. "Will you see me off?" I asked quietly and he nodded and we left the room.

The air outside was refreshing and it wasn't very warm today. "The boat dock is that way," and he pointed and I nodded. We stood there and I could not say what had happened to us during these weeks. It was exciting to be in the presence of the prince, but he did not seem like one today. His face was filled with guilt and sorrow and even regret. My eyes filled with salty tears and I held them back.

We walked into the town and saw store owners slowly open their shops with sleep still in their eyes. A woman with a crying child walked past and people kept their heads down almost as if they were sleep walking. We walked in silence and a few feet apart. The docks slowly came into view and we walked to the water. "Katara? Is your wound still bothering you? I put medicine into the bag."

"I haven't thought about it," and it was true. Ever since we got here I had forgotten all about the burn and I wanted to clean it. "Hold on," and I drew water from my container and let it turn to ice. I cleaned it quickly and Zuko stood watching the boats. "You'll make a great ruler, without the Avatar," and he sighed.

There were shouts and we both looked down to the dock and looked for commotion. There were two men running and I wondered who they were chasing when suddenly I realized they were dressed in the red and they were Fire Nation guards! "RUN!" Zuko yelled and we turned and flew through the air running as fast as we could.

My burn was painful rubbing against the fabric but all I could think of was to run. The calmness of the day had suddenly evaporated and now I was running for my life.

I tuned around and saw them chasing us and I pushed myself harder. We ran into the town and stopped for a moment and I saw people starting to redecorate for the festival that we had seen days before. "Here," he said and we hid behind a statue someone had just put up. My breathe was coming out choppy and I felt my head spin. "Drink water," he whispered and I nodded.

It was soothing and helped me calm down. The guards stood in front of the statue and my heart froze. My stomach seemed to drop and I looked at Zuko whose expression now held anger. We could hear them speak and I listened. "That was a Water Bender!"

"We could bring her back to the Fire Nation."

"Our general gave us orders to imprison any benders and we found one. We have to find her and lock her up. I don't want some other patrol to find her. Do you know what will happen if our general found her? We would go to prison for not watching our area well enough."

"We have no idea where she went!"

"We'll ask for more guards so she can't escape the village." I looked at Zuko with fear and he motioned to stay calm and quiet. Their voices were slowly disappearing and I knew they were walking away.

"She was pretty you know, maybe we could capture her and wait an hour before throwing her in the cell." They laughed and my heart sank into my stomach and the tears filled my eyes.

Fuck! I just wanted to go home now, and I was stuck in this damn village! I was screaming inside my head and I looked at Zuko. "Thanks Zuko, I'm never going to get home thanks to your stupid nation!" I left the hiding place and started to cry. I did not care who was looking at me now and he grabbed my arm and pulled me back. He threw the hood over me and pushed me along to the inn.

We went into Iroh's room and Zuko quickly told him what had happened and Iroh looked upset. "This is a new low for my brother. Filling villages with guards to capture innocent people? He must have gone truly insane to believe that there are spies everywhere."

"Uncle, I don't know what to do."

"Katara," I looked up and I was sitting on one of the two chairs in the room. Zuko was standing and Iroh was sitting in the other chair. "I know we promised you your freedom to return home. But by now they are probably watching everyone who walks on a ship to the Water Tribes. We must find another way to leave this village and then send you on your way from another boat."

Zuko paced and I felt sick again and this time I could not stay quiet. I stood and looked at Zuko and felt so many words rush into my mouth. "Why don't you just kill me, my family is already gone, I wouldn't mind dying too," and he glared at me.

"I was letting you go! I wanted you to leave! And it's not my fault they were out there looking for benders! How many times have I told you not to bend!"

"I was thinking of my family and my freedom at that moment! I wasn't thinking of YOUR ORDERS!" I yelled and started to cry. So many tears! I shed so many tears since I had been captured and Zuko yelled and fire bended a flame into the wall.

It was black now in that one spot, "Zuko! You will pay the inn keeper for that!" Iroh said and I stayed on the floor crying. "We must think of the best way to leave this village unnoticed," and he held out his hand and I stood and sat back on the chair. "It's important for both Katara and yourself to leave unnoticed. You realize that your father would most likely punish you again for keeping this girl with you?"

Zuko sat back on the bed and I glared at him but he didn't look at me. "This is more work then I had imagined," he mumbled and I lost it.

"I'm sorry Zuko. You're right, it's my fault you captured me. It's my fault my family is dead. And it's my fault there are Fire Benders EVERYWHERE!"

"It's YOUR fault you were SPOTTED!" He said and I sat back in the chair.

"That's enough from you two! Acting like children! The only way we can figure this out is if we are calm. Drink some tea," Iroh said and handed it to me. The room was silent and Iroh sipped his tea and Zuko refused to look at me.

Finally Iroh broke the silence and it made me jump. "They will look in the inns. A Water Bender would not have a home here, so most likely they will start to look in the places they think Katara would hide. If we send her onto the boat they will remove her hood and see that she is a Water Bender and that she is traveling alone. I'm afraid these men may try to take advantage of you," and Zuko stood and I could see him glow with anger.

"We will leave on a Fire Nation ship. They will have no reason to check for Katara because why would she go on a ship towards the Fire Nation? Once we land, we will send you back on the ships heading for the Water Tribes," Iroh said and Zuko sighed.

My emotions were so overworked that I did not care that I was going to be on ship headed towards the Fire Nation. "Katara you will pose as Zuko's wife and I will be Zuko's father. Zuko? You understand how important this is to be unnoticed? Luckily your hair has grown to cover most of your scar."

"I have to act like her husband?" He said and I felt hurt by those words.

"You know how these Fire Benders check every story and would be suspicious if they saw she was traveling with you for no other reason. They will already be suspicious because of her skin tone."

Zuko left the room and I heard his own door open and slam close. "Katara, we must move quickly because I do not know when they will start to look. Tonight we will leave so get lots of rest. I will buy more food and some things we need for our journey." I started to leave and he sighed. "I am so very sorry," and I nodded.

I was sorry too.

Yes! I managed to update! I've been having writers block.

Thanks for reviewing my lovely reviewers! :)