Chapter Fourteen

Zuko looked into Katara's eyes. He could tell that she was worried about something. Him maybe? He couldn't tell exactly what about, but the worry was there for sure. He knew that he could tell her what was going on inside him, but he still didn't even know for sure. And what he did know, well he wasn't ready to share that until he knew…more about Katara. "Nothing," he told her softly. "Come on, lets go look for berries or nuts, or whatever food there is in this place."

Katara just shrugged his shoulders at him before walking off. The prince contemplated following her, but he thought better of it. If she walked off alone, she probably wanted to be alone, right? And he didn't want to push her away any. No, he finally admitted to himself, he wanted to pull her to him. He wanted to wrap his strong, muscular arms around her small body and press his rough lips to her soft ones. There was no denying it anymore, he realized. She was all he could think about. He couldn't even escape her in his dreams, for there he thought of her even more.

"Food," he reminded himself out loud, banishing thoughts of his incriminating dreams. Then he went in search of whatever fruits the island had to offer. He was delighted to find that he didn't have to search long. Only a few feet from where they had decided to rest stood a pineapple tree. He climbed it as quickly as he could and tossed down as many as he could reach, because he had no idea when they would make it to the lake and be able to fish. He dropped from the tree and walked back to where they were going to rest for a while, his arms full of pineapples.

"Katara," he called, "I have food."

No answer came. He tried again, "Katara! I have something for us to eat! Oh please don't be lost," he added more quietly.

Still, Prince Zuko heard no reply. He stuffed the fruit into his sleeping bag, grabbed both his and Katara's sleeping bags and headed off in the direction Katara had gone. All the while he was praying that she was ok. He hoped that she didn't go too far. He also reprimanded himself for letting her go off on her own in the first place. His thoughts were too focused on not annoying her that he had completely forgotten that the jungle would only too gladly sweep her away into its depths.

An hour later, Prince Zuko was starting to fret. He had been calling for the girl, but had heard nothing in return. He didn't even want to think about the possibilities. Actually, he almost hoped that she was trying to run away from him, because that would mean she was just ignoring him, that she was alive. Images of her trapped in a corner with a jaguar advancing toward her continued to haunt his mind.

"KATARA!" he bellowed into the jungle, hoping and praying for a response. "Just a small response," he mumbled.

"Ugh…"

"Katara?" he asked, looking around for the source of the moan he heard.

"Ugh…"

Again, Zuko looked around. He could hear the low whine or moan that someone was making, and he assumed it was Katara, but he couldn't locate where it was coming from. It was close though, so close.

"Katara, if that's you, moan again. I'm looking for you."

"Ugh…I'm…right…h…here…"

"Katara!" Zuko exclaimed, following her voice and finding her on the ground, her head resting on a rock. By the look of it, she had fallen and struck her head on the rock, leaving her temporarily unconscious. Zuko knelt down and picked her head up, putting it gently on his lap to examine it. Yes-there was a small speckling of blood on both her head and the rock.

"Did you fall?" he asked, even though the answer was quite obvious.

"Yeah…I think I slipped…or something. Then everything…went black."

"Do you think you can get up? Or do you need to continue lying down for a while longer?"

"I…I'll try to…stand."

"Are you sure? You still sound pretty out of it. Maybe you should stay still for a minute or two. You know, just until you can form sentences without pausing."

"If you…think so…"

"Well, I just think that might be for the best."

"Ok."

Zuko looked down at her, amazed at how she looked even more beautiful in her haze. Her eyes looked misted and glazed over, almost like one under the effects of opium. Her hair was pulled back like it almost invariably was, but some stray strands had escaped the bind and were scattered around her face. She looked like an angel, and Zuko couldn't help it. He moved aside one of the loose hairs and leaned down slowly, so slowly it was like he was barely moving. When he was just an inch or two from his lips, he stopped himself. No, she was out of it. It wouldn't be right to take advantage of her situation, not even for an innocent kiss. He pulled away and waited for her to show some sign that the fiery Katara was back.

Katara felt as if some heavy blanket were taken off of her suddenly. Her body no longer felt like it was confined under something, and her eyes didn't seem to look through a veil anymore. She blinked slowly and looked up into the eyes of the Fire Prince. "Hi," she said, the word sounding funny the way she said it.

He smiled at her, "Hi. Do you feel better?"

"Yeah. I fell," she told him, to explain why she was on the ground and probably looking like an idiot.

"I know, you told me."

"What? I told you just now. What do you mean?" Katara asked him, completely confused.

"You told me already, about fifteen minutes ago. You were acting pretty strange, I didn't think you really knew what you were saying. But I had gathered before then that you fell."

"I-what? I don't remember even seeing you until just a minute ago," she said, still feeling confused. She scratched her head and felt dried blood, "Eww." She also felt Zuko's leg underneath her. She sat up quickly, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't be. I moved your head to my lap to get you off that rock. Come on, since you can sit up you can probably stand and maybe even walk. We need to get you someplace to wash that," he said calmly, indicating her head.

"Where? I thought we were really far from the lake."

"We are. But there are other, smaller, bodies of water that should suffice."

"I can heal it myself, you know. I'm a healer as well as a bender," she told him, the thought just then occurring to her.

"Oh. Well, do you need any help?"

"No. Well, actually, can you help me stand up?"

"Yes, of course," he said, holding out his hand for her to take after he stood up himself.

Katara took his hand and was shocked to feel what seemed to be a bolt of electricity run from his hand to hers. She let go instinctively and almost fell, but the prince reached out with amazing reflexes and pulled her back to him. She clung to him for a moment, still not feeling steady, not to mention still recovering from that amazing feeling his skin had with hers. Her arms were still tingling where he was touching them, and her breast was almost aflame where it was resting upon his own. She looked up at him, very slowly, and saw in his eyes that he was feeling the same sensation. Her arms seemed to move of their own free will, out from underneath his, and toward his shoulders, until they were around his neck.

"I guess I can't walk quite yet," she said softly, her face tilted up toward his.

Ha! So what do you all think of that! I know it's going slowly, and some of you are getting impatient. But….if I went too fast the rest of you would complain that it's out of character. And you would be right. So here's Chapter 14 for you all, I hope you liked it! And don't forget to leave me a review! I love to write and would probably continue even if you didn't, but do you really want to risk it?

By the way, Scraper, since you're so concerned with things being culturally correct and characteristically correct, I added the opium thing for you.

Until the next chapter (which probably won't be up until Wednesday or so)…..