Hey kiddos thanks for all the reviews! Here's the next chapter up nice and early. I hope you enjoy it :)
Sokka, Suki, Toph and Aang since their last meeting had decided the best way for them to help find Katara would be to do what was in their power to do so. Suki, whose father worked alongside Bato, had connections to figuring out the progress made in the case and would easily be able to convey it back to her boyfriend. Toph and Aang knew the city like the back of their hands, and so the two of them swept through Oakland, questioning anyone they thought might have anything to do with the gang and visiting areas where they might find clues of Katara's whereabouts. Sokka decided that he would work alongside his father, he knew the man would be going deep into enemy territory.
Wow, so his father, his own father, Hakoda Long, had once been one of the most powerful men in California... go figure.
Sokka shrugged and fell back on the bed as his dad pulled out the giant carpet bag from underneath.
"What's in the bag?" Sokka asked propping himself up his elbow.
Hakoda didn't answer, instead he opened the bag, then dumped the contents out on the table and it was all Sokka could do was gap in amazement. "Holy-! Dad! Wha-?"
"Ex-second-most-powerful-gangster-in-California still has connections," Hakoda said with a smirk as he picked up several different weapons varying from knives to guns to a pair of num chucks.
"Dad you know how to use those?" Sokka asked gesturing towards the num chucks. Hakoda picked them up and skillfully twirled them around in a crazy fancy formation, making it look so easy yet impossible to do. "You're gonna teach me how to do that right?" Sokka asked standing up to join his father at the table.
But Hakoda shook his head. "No son, I have special weapon for you." He reached into a different bag then pulled out a peculiar blade, there was a handle at one end but then it bent at the middle almost ninety degrees. The blade itself was probably two inches deep and dreadfully sharp. Hakoda handed the mechanism over to him carefully. "It s a boomerang, use it correctly and it becomes your best friend."
Sokka took the weapon and studied it, then his brow furrowed seriously and he looked at his dad. "Dad, what are we going into?" Hakoda stuffed a knife into one of his boots then straightened and looked at Sokka.
"Knowing Ozai, hell." He took the boomerang then looked at his son with an expression so deathly serious that Sokka found himself craving sour gummy worms suddenly. "Sokka listen to me. If I had it my way, I would not take you with me. But seeing as you already followed me all the way here, I know you won't take no as an answer so I can only give you this warning; we are going waist deep into some smelly shit and it's not going to be pretty. These people will kill you without hesitation if Ozai gives them the order. You need to know how to take care of yourself."
Sokka nodded. "I do know dad." He remembered all the experience in wrestling he had during his highschool years and the Tai Kwan Do classes he had been enrolled in since he was a little boy. That had to be enough but he frowned when Hakoda shook his head.
"No you don't Sokka. You won't know until you are actually in the situation where your life is on the line. The more you know, the more frozen you will be and before you know it..." he didn't finish the sentence but he didn't have to for Sokka to know what he meant. "I will teach you a few close combat techniques that I have learned over the years, the kind that once you learn them it becomes second nature and you remember it like you remember your own name."
Sokka nodded but Hakoda wasn't finished. "Another thing son, killing, is only used as a very last resort. The feeling you get after taking the life of another human being is one that I hope you never will have to experience."
The young man noticed his father shudder slightly and he wondered even more about this man. He felt like he was just meeting him for the first time in his life, what exactly were these connections he had? Where did he learn to fight like that? How many people has he killed? Sokka hated to think that his father could be a murderer... so he shook the thought from his head and looked down at the weapons table once again. "So besides this boomerang thing, what else am I going to be using?" He picked a particularly big gun but Hakoda took it from him then handed him a little knife to stick in his shoe, and smaller hand gun. "Twenty-two caliber. You've got only eight bullets, use it sparingly."
Sokka nodded, "Okay so what else do I get?" Hakoda shook his head as he continued filling his belt with guns and knives. "Nothing." His son looked taken aback.
"I thought you said you didn't want me to die!" he was beginning to sound like a child again and so Hakoda scolded him wordlessly with the look he gave when Sokka had been younger. The boy recognized the look and lowered his gaze to his feet, hanging his head shamefully. It was a reflex move, always what he did when he was scolded in that way, and even though it's been years since he received the wordless scolding, the reaction was still habitual.
"So what's the plan?" he asked changing the subject. The weapons on the table were now mostly in Hakoda's clothing, and now he pulled a long brown leather jacket over his self to conceal them.
"I know where Ozai is hiding, but we're not going to go barging in guns ablaze raising hell. We need to be sure he has Katara first. And if we get caught..." he paused and straightened his jacket. "Well, you just try to escape, find Bato, and tell him where Ozai is. And do it fast, Ozai has a way of being able to move very quickly."
"What if I'm the one caught?" Sokka asked pulling on his own jacket.
Hakoda looked at him sternly. "You won't be."
...
The sounds of a man getting the life beaten out of him resounded off the walls and back into the huge garage. In the middle of the garage there were three men, all dressed the same wearing black suits, black shades, and black hair pulled up into a neat top knot. They were clustered around a man rolled up in a ball on the floor, the man had at least four broken bones and cuts and bruises peppered his epidermis.
He cried out in pain each time a kick was delivered to his stomach, or a fist slammed into his face. "Please... please stop," he begged but the men showed him no mercy.
Not far off sitting in a chair with his daughter standing behind him, there was Ozai, the all powerful dragon who controlled these heartless golems, and finally after what seemed to the man hours of beatings, he stopped them with a single command. "Yamete!"
Instantly, the three men ended their beating and stood at attention as their leader approached them, his daughter followed close behind, a small smirk tugged at her lips as she glanced down at the pathetic little form of life before her. On reaching him, Ozai snapped at one of his guards and in a second the man was held up by his hair to look the dragon man in the eye.
But it was difficult, Ozai's golden eyes were so hard, so cold, so evil, one little glance was enough to chill him to the bone and he looked away. "You've been helping my old friend haven't you Kenji?"
The man didn't answer; not because he wanted to be smart, more because he couldn't. One of his ribs was broken and stabbing his lung painfully and it was hard enough trying to breath let alone talk. "Oh... so you don't remember." Ozai's voice was incredibly cold; it dripped with a sick venomous evil like that found in the fangs of a poisonous snake coiled for a strike.
"Azula," his daughter appeared instantly at his side.
"Yes father," her obvious enjoyment of the moment showed plainly in her voice as she didn't bother trying to hide it.
"Refresh Kenji's memory, he seems to have forgotten what he's done to betray me," with that, Ozai stepped away as Azula pulled a gun from her pocket.
"Yes father," her smirk grew wider as the dead body was dropped to the floor. She then followed her father and he issued orders to her in his cold, low voice to have the perimeter around the building and the areas completely secured.
"He knows where I am, and he is coming now. Make sure we are ready for him. I have been looking forward to reuniting with my old friend for eighteen years now."
...
On the way to the garage, Hakoda had taught Sokka simple pressure points to hit when you wanted to go for a knock out, how to avoid this kind of strike, what to do to get out of that kind of situation, and if it was ever necessary, the best places to hit to kill. In the end like Hakoda had said, Sokka found the techniques permanently engraved in his mind. Now the two of them were nearing the garage and they ducked in and out of sight, moving with silently and stealthily under the cover of night. Suddenly, Hakoda held up his hand to stop Sokka and he pointed from his hiding place to two men, obviously Ozai's henchmen standing guard atop a giant pile of crates.
"Give me your boomerang," Hakoda whispered to his son. Once it was in his hand, Hakoda waited for the right moment, aimed, and then threw the weapon with the skill of a master. A few seconds later after he threw it, grunts were heard and next the unmistakable thud of two bodies hitting falling hard from the crates to the ground. A few seconds later and the boomerang was back in Hakoda's hand.
"Way to go dad," Sokka whispered in admiration of his old man. Hakoda smiled then the two of the moved again, both instinctively becoming more alert as they knew they had crossed into enemy territory.
"There is always the chance that Ozai knows I am coming, so always, always be on your guard."
Sokka nodded. Hakoda had then looked at his son with a certain sadness in his eyes then he had said, "I really wish you would stay here Sokka." He had thrown all his concern and pleading into his voice at that moment but it had failed to change Sokka's mind.
"She's my baby sister dad. You once told me a long time ago that I was to protect her always and I had promised that I would. I won't go back on that promise."
"What if I release you from that promise this once Sokka? Then will you stay?"
Sokka shook his head. "I didn't promise you dad. I promised Katara."
New respect and admiration along with pride for his first born had swelled into Hakoda's chest as he acknowledged how virtuous his son is.
The two moved stealthily and quickly, knocking out four more guards on the way until they reached the warehouse. Then, Hakoda jumped cat like up onto a dumpster, then a pile of crates and reached the fire exit. Sokka, less gracefully and almost as quietly followed close behind. Once they were on the roof, they got down low in case any guards were about.
"Hey! What are you two-," Sokka turned quickly in his crouch position and swept his leg out kicking the man's feet from under him. Then before another noise escaped his throat, the young man thumped his right temple, knocking him out cold. Hakoda looked for a second in shock at the result of his son's quick thinking then nodded his head once at the smirk his son gave him. I told you so.
Unfortunately, the man's voice had been heard by other guards on the roof and before father or son knew it, they stood back to back ready to fight as were surrounded by at least ten henchmen.
"Hakoda," sneered one of the men. Hakoda squinted towards the voice and the man stepped out of the shadows.
"Zhao!" Hakoda exclaimed as if he were overjoyed to see the big side burned faced man. "Still kissing Ozai's ass I see. So what's he got you doing now? Kidnapping teenage girls and killing innocent women?"
The man laughed as he stepped towards the ex-gangster, his hands clasped behind his back. "As a matter of fact Hakoda I now have your old job. You were such a fool to leave behind this great power that is now in my hands," he said holding his hands out in front of his face as if he held something there. "I am free to do what I will, when I wish-,"
"No Zhao," Hakoda said in a mock stern tone. "You are free to do what Ozai wishes you to do, and when he tells you to do it. You're his slave."
"Shut up!" Then he and the men attacked at a wordless order, and Hakoda and Sokka immediately jumped into action.
"Remember what taught you son," Hakoda murmured just second before dispatching a particularly big henchman then snapping the arm of one of the men holding a gun to his face. The man howled in pain and Hakoda knocked him out cutting of his scream. Then he spun around to see a henchman fall to the ground unconscious, Sokka standing behind him with a satisfied smirk at his lips.
"Sokka behind you!" Hakoda warned before catching a punch thrown by another henchman then twisting his arm and tossing him into another man about to attack him. Meanwhile Sokka ducked a blow from the man looming over him, twisted around him so that he was behind him, then kicked the pressure point above the mans buttocks rending his legs immobile for a full seven seconds, giving him just enough time to hit the man at the nape of the neck, knocking him out.
Now with four conscious men left, one being Zhao, the two wordlessly agreed that Hakoda would take the two on the right, Zhao and another smaller man, and Sokka would take the two on the left, two tall but slimly built henchmen. The smaller man attacked Hakoda first, rushing at him with a knife in his hand but Hakoda caught the knife hand, twisted the weapon out of the man's grasp them threw him over his shoulder, knocking him out in the process. Zhao then wasted no time in attacking Hakoda; he was a skilled master in Shaolin Kung Fu, but he knew nothing of the close combat training Hakoda had received after he left the gang. So his kung fu was proved useless as Hakoda parried or blocked every kick and punch he threw at him, frustrating him so much he began to growl and yell in anger as he realized he was being toyed with.
"Come on Zhao I thought you had improved somewhat in the past eighteen years!" Hakoda mocked with a smirk as he evaded yet another one of Zhao's strikes.
"Why don't you stop ducking and evading like a coward and fight me like a man!" Zhao yelled angrily and Hakoda could practically see the fire emitting from his nostrils as his temper began to fuel his strikes making them more powerful but also sloppier. Hakoda used this to his advantage and he blocked the next few strikes with his own kung fu knowledge and then finding the opening he was looking for, he sent a chin jab to Zhao's face, forcing his head backwards so quickly he was knocked out. Any harder and Hakoda knew he would have killed the man but that was not his intention.
Once his two men were knock out, he checked to see where Sokka was and was proud to see that the teenager had already knocked out one of the men and was just finishing off the second.
"Well done, it seems I have underestimated you," Hakoda said making his way over to his son. Sokka grinned proudly then followed Hakoda as they made their way to one of the windows in the roof. The window was stained and dirty with grime and bird poop, but the two could just barely see the outlines of human bodies moving around inside.
"You think Katara's there?" Sokka asked hopefully as he rubbed away some of the grime trying to get a better look inside.
Hakoda shook his head. "I'm not sure. If she is in this city though I don't think he would keep her near him. Help me with this." He had used his knife to unscrew the glass from its place and now the two of them lifted it as quietly as possible. Now they could both look down and see clearly Ozai, a girl around Katara's age, and about twenty of Ozai's gang. Hakoda couldn't hear quite well what they were saying so he looked for a way to get inside. A small jumps distance away from the ceiling of the garage was a rail just thick enough that Hakoda would be able to stand on it with his feet pressed together.
He turned to his son. "I'm going inside, you stay here, if anything goes wrong," he took out his cell phone and pressed it into Sokka's hand. "Call Bato immediately. Stay on the line and they'll trace the call." He grabbed the boy by the neckline of his shirt and pulled him close so that he could clearly see the seriousness in his blue eyes. "Whatever you do, promise me you won't come in after me."
"But dad what if-,"
"Promise me Sokka," Hakoda interrupted sternly.
Sokka looked him straight in the eye then nodded. "I promise. Be careful dad."
Hakoda turned back to the opening and when he was sure no one was looking up, he dropped down onto the rail with the perfected silence of a ninja.
...
That night, as Katara took off her dress and dropped it into the laundry basket before her shower, she felt strangely peaceful. Her actions today had surprised her, from the light conversation she had had with the boy to the kiss she had left him with. She was still not sure why she did it, but she had had a feeling that he would not pull away. It was almost like he wanted to kiss her back.
She sighed as she stepped into the shower and turned on the hot tap. Almost. She knew there was no chance of him ever wanting her. She was his captive, by the end of the month they would part and never see each other again. But still, there was a faint glimmer of hope stashed away somewhere in her heart that maybe...
What? We would fall in love and remain here on this island together forever?
Maybe not that exactly. But somewhere along the lines of that.
Katara you're thinking crazy. He is a gangster! He kidnapped you and will probably have to kill you in three weeks time! It's his fault your mother is dead!
No it's not, he was following orders, he even told his men not to kill anyone and he avenged her for me. People can change in three weeks time.
You're just defending him because you think he's handsome. But underneath those incredibly golden eyes, dark mysterious hair, and god-like body... The thought trailed off for a while then returned. He can't be all bad... otherwise you wouldn't feel this way.
Katara sighed. Unlike her brother, her instincts were usually right, she was pretty good at reading vibes sent off by other people, and despite his seemingly permanent scowl, the boy, Zuko, just seemed like a lost and confused teenager trying to find his way.
She chuckled at this thought. All teenagers are lost and confused. Him just more than most. And she found herself wanting to help him.
When her shower was done and she was dried and dressed and her hair pulled back in a neat braid that hung down to her waist, Katara left her room to go downstairs in hopes of finding the boy there. She wanted to talk to him. Who knows, maybe today he won't snap at her, or scowl at her, or turn her away. Maybe. That means there's still a possibility. She shrugged as she made her way down the stairs. And if he does, then what else is new?
...
It had taken a while, but Zuko was finally able to step out of the cold water without- well, letting his hormones take over again.
He couldn't believe this was happening to him. One day he's yelling at her to stay the hell out of his room, the next he's ignoring her, and now, he's going hard just from looking at her! Dear God what is the world coming to? He knew he was going to lose it in just a matter of time. Soon he won't be able to control himself around her. And what will he do when that day comes? If anything happens between the two of them he knew his feelings for her would come between him and following his father's orders.
"In one month's time you will kill her."
"But sir, what if her father is able to pay what he owes you?"
"Then I will have my money and he will have his daughter's dead body."
He shuddered at the memory then the girl's smiling face appeared in his mind. Would he be able to do it? Even now he knew he wouldn't. Then Ozai would order Azula to kill her, and when she does, Zuko would be forever shamed and even disowned. But did that matter to him? He knew, deep down in his heart, Ozai was evil, but it was hidden beneath the overwhelming desire to have a father. When the time came, would he be able to kill the girl like he was ordered? He knew the answer but he didn't want to have to think of it. He had three weeks, worry about it when the time comes.
When he had left for the island with the girl he had had his duty set in his mind, watch her for a month, kill her afterwards. But then there was the day on the beach when he found himself unable to hurt her. The way he hadn't resisted when she held him down and spoke so venomously in his ear. The time when he hadn't hurt her even though he knew he could easily have done so. Two days ago, she had snuck into his room and stolen his phone nearly called for help, and almost got his ass into some real deep shit with his father. And yet, he had held back.
Was it the girl or was it the fact that he knew she was right? He didn't have it in him to hurt her because he didn't want to. He had been able to kill the man in the warehouse because he had committed an unforgivable sin and he needed to pay. But his father had rdered him to commit the same unforgivable sin, he was to kill her at the end of the month, taking her away from her brother, her father, her friends... he couldn't, wouldn't do it. If Ozai wanted her dead, he would have to kill her himself. Zuko didn't want anything to do with it.
Once he was dressed in his normal sleep attire of black basketball shorts and a white tee shirt, Zuko left his room to go downstairs for a small dinner. The girl didn't usually come downstairs at this time so Zuko was caught completely off guard when he walked into the kitchen and saw her standing there humming gently to herself as she cooked a wok full of stir fry noodles.
"What are you doing?!" he exclaimed before he could stop himself. The girl jumped and spun around, her shockingly blue eyes wide in alarm. Then her face relaxed and she smiled at him then motioned towards the island where she had set up two plates.
"Sorry, it was supposed to be a surprise." She said turning back to the wok. She turned off the stove then spooned some of the steaming noodles into both of the plates. "Are you hungry?" she asked looking at him again.
Zuko could only stare at her with his jaw hanging from the hinges of his mouth. The girl started to giggle and he blushed when he realized how stupid he must look. "Wha-? No! I actually just-," He was interrupted by an angry growl emitted from his traitorous stomach and his blush only deepened when she laughed again.
"Come sit," she motioned to the stool across the island from her Zuko knew he couldn't get out of this without looking even stupider than he already felt. The noodles smelled good at least, and when he sat down he recognized his uncles favorite Malaysian dish. "My dad is Malaysian and my mother was Native Alaskan. He taught me how to cook," she answered his unasked question and he saw the slight pain in her eyes when she mentioned her mother.
"Oh," he mumbled picking up his fork not sure of what else to say. He waited until she took a bite before he took his first one and was genuinely surprised. His uncle had always ordered Malaysian food from a restaurant, he never had it actually prepared the way she did in this dish. Even though what his uncle bought was delicious, it was nothing compared to what sat in the plate before him.
...
Katara smiled at the enthusiastic way her captor was eating his food. She was suddenly thankful for all those hours she spent in the kitchen watching her dad cook.
"Remember Katara, if you forget how a certain recipe goes, improvising is the best way to go. That's why none of my dishes ever taste the same the second time you try it."
He then picked up little five year old Katara and placed her on his shoulders while she laughed and played with his hair. "But Daddy what if I put in the wrong spice and it tastes bad?"
"Then you'll learn not to use that spice and who knows, you may just discover a newer, better dish than what you were trying to create."
Then her mother entered the kitchen. She kissed her husband and reached up to take her daughter. "Come on Katara, bath time."
"Aw but Mommy Daddy was teaching me how to cook! Can I stay a little longer?" She pleaded once her mother was holding her.
"Yeah Mommy, can she stay just a little longer?" Hakoda said and the two of them put on puppy pout faces and pleaded with the most special woman in each of their lives.
Karena looked from Katara to Hakoda and smiled. "Alright you can stay, but if you don't take a shower now, neither of you will be allowed to cook desert."
At this Hakoda's expression became one of defeat and he held up his hands. "Sorry Katara honey but I was planning on giant chocolate birthday cake for desert so-,"
"Okay okay Mommy can I have my bath now?" Katara said urgently as he was anxious to help her dad with the baking. Karena laughed and kissed her daughter's chubby cheek.
"Alright birthday girl let's go."
"Are you okay?" Katara blinked and saw her captor looking at her with a look of confusion on his face.
"What?"
"You were, um-," he touched his eye and Katara's hand went up to her cheek and she found it was wet. She'd been crying.
"Oh..." she looked in wonder at her wet finger tips then wiped her eyes quickly. "I was just," she stopped and swallowed as she felt more tears rise in her throat. "My mother... I'm sorry."
...
The girl had gotten a far away look in her eyes and then he had noticed tears beginning to streak down her face. Oh shits...
She had been thinking about her mother and now she was apologizing to him. Enormous waves of guilt crashed over him and Zuko wanted suddenly to hug her and comfort her. Then, before he was sure of what he was doing, that's exactly what he was doing.
He felt her tense in surprise but then she let herself be held and the tears fell freely from her eyes and into his shirt. He wasn't sure of what to do at this point; Azula was never the crying type and he had never really had to comfort crying girls so he thought back to what his mother would do. She would probably hug her, tell her everything would be alright and then she would hold her until she stopped crying or she fell asleep. So that's just what he did, he hugged her, rubbed circles around her back and shushed her soothingly. This didn't seem to help as her shoulders began to quake and she cried even harder into his chest. Please stop crying Girl! He begged mentally but didn't voice his pleads. Actually he was relishing the feeling of having her little frame in his arms and when she sank into him even deeper, he held her even tighter and rested his cheek on her head.
...
She was very surprised when she found herself encased in Zuko's arms, but silently she was grateful. It meant he knew she had feelings, the simple little act was telling her it was okay for her to show her emotions to him. And show them she did without holding back, she sobbed into his shirt, drenching him in her tears.
When she was finally able to get a hold of herself, Katara sniffed and wiped her eyes then pulled a little out of his arms and looked at him. "I ruined your shirt," she sniffed with a choked laughed but she noticed he wasn't looking at that. His arms were still wrapped around her halfway, and her wet blue eyes met his warm amber ones. Her face was just inches away from his, then she noticed his gaze slip down her face to her lips.
Her heart thumped wildly in her chest and her mind raced at a million miles a second. Is he going to kiss me? He was just a few centimeters away from her when he stopped suddenly and pulled away. "Sorry," he mumbled getting up quickly and hurrying towards the stairs.
...
What had he been thinking?! He can't do that it just doesn't work that way!
He was halfway to his room when he heard the girl call out to him. "Wait!" He turned and saw her running towards him. He stopped and faced her when she reached him.
"What?" he asked. But she didn't answer. Instead she looked at him for a second, panting and slightly out of breath, and then- she was in his arms again. He didn't know who kissed who or if they had come in at the same time, nor did he care, this feeling he felt now, with her lips pressed against his, his tongue exploring the insides of her mouth, trying to taste every bit of her, was pure ecstasy. His brain was swimming as her sweet scent intoxicated him and made him crave even more of her. The fire in his stomach was roaring now and he did nothing to stop it; he wanted this, and he knew she did too.
...
She thought he had been the one to grab her but she could have been wrong. She vaguely remembered advancing upwards to him but now she forgot everything. All she knew was the taste of him, the alluring smell of him, the way his hands were touching her as they kissed. It was driving her crazy and she wanted more of it. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and her hands went up to his hair, she grabbed roughly and he shoved her against the wall making her grunt. They pulled away, both gasping for breath, then Zuko had his hand in her hair and he pulled her head back, exposing her bare neck and she shivered as his hot lips made contact with her naked flesh, planting kisses like fire on her bare skin and she stifled a moan the rose in her throat.
He had to stop. This was getting too out of control, but she didn't want him to stop. She wanted him to keep kissing her, keep touching her and never ever stop. It was crazy, completely ludicrous, but she wanted it more than she had ever wanted anything.
"Zuko..." she breathed trying to get his attention. Oh why did this have to feel so good!? "P-Please Zuko..." she stuttered as his lips were now at her ear. This time she could not stop the moan that escaped passed her lips. He stopped and pulled away apparently please with the response he had gotten from her and looked at her again. There was a smirk at his lips, and a fire in his eyes that frightened yet excited her. She swallowed as he leaned his forehead onto hers, her hold in his hair loosening then tightening with the random spasms of adrenaline bring released into her blood. One of his hands was still in her hair the other was holding her waist and pulling her flush against his body. "We..." she breathed again but his lips were against hers before she could finish and she lost herself in a crazy kind of high that only this kiss could produce.
She wanted him to stop, but she wanted even more for him to keep going. This is crazy! Her mind was screaming at her to stop this but she couldn't, it was as if her body didn't want to listen to her brain anymore so it started acting on its own accord. Please stop... She tried again. "Zuko..." she pulled out of their steamy kiss now trying to get a grip on her lust. When she looked in his eyes though she almost cringed. There she saw and animalistic hunger burning in them and she knew he was just as out of control as she was. "We have to-," he blinked at the sound of her voice, then as if he just realized what was going on, the hunger in his eyes dissipated and he backed away from her slowly, dropping his hands away from her.
Both of them stood there, completely out of breath and they stared at each other. Then Katara cleared her throat. "We were going to far," she whispered hoarsely, her hand went up habitually to push a strand of hair behind her ear.
Zuko nodded. "I'm sorry," he mumbled as he started once again towards his room.
"No," she called after him and he stopped. "Don't be." Her voice was very soft, and held a smile in it. He turned and looked at her. Then and there she could have sworn, although it also could have been a trick of the light, the corners of his mouth turn upwards ever so slightly in response. After he was gone Katara noticed there was no light in the dark hallway; her ever-scowling captor had just smiled at her. Katara felt a warm feeling arise somewhere in her chest and she turned and went to her room.
...
Once in his room, Zuko let out the breath he had been holding and leaned back against the door. Holy SHIT! He had completely lost it in the hallway and he wasn't sure he was completely mad at himself. It had been so crazy amazing... except now he needed to jump right back into his cold shower.
...
Hakoda crept behind a pile of crates and leaned forward to catch the snippets of conversation Ozai was having with one of his men.
"He hasn't been spotted, but six of our guards were found unconscious," the man was saying and Hakoda saw Ozai's normally perfect features twist into a scowl.
"He is here. He could be in this garage at this moment, listening to everything I say," Ozai hissed in displeasure, and Hakoda couldn't help but smirk at his old partners anger. The smirk didn't stay on his face very long, as he felt something placed at the back of his head and the a voice in his ear. "On you're feet Hakoda."
I think this is the longest chapter yet... Jeez I'm tired... Review please kiddos and tell me how you liked it!