Chapter 20: Against the Rules

"Lady Katara has been kidnapped by Prince Zuko."

Piandao's words played over and over in Sokka's head. At first Sokka had thought that it was a joke. But Piandao had showed him the letter he had received from Bato by messenger hawk. The whole Southern Water Tribe was a mess at the moment. Hakoda was extremely worried, as expected, and would barely eat. The villagers were horrified at what Prince Zuko had done. Sangok, the only witness of the abduction, was blaming himself for not being able to prevent the incident. Sokka felt the need to be back at home, comforting his father and Gran Gran and helping control some of the chaos. But Bato had written that Hakoda wanted Sokka and Jet to complete their training with Piandao. Hakoda wanted to take care of the situation himself, and didn't want Sokka and Jet to get involved yet. Sokka thought that that was kind of unreasonable. He had no idea where his sister was. He didn't know if she was safe or not. He needed to look for her; he couldn't stand not doing anything about it. Maybe his father blamed himself for being too late to stop the prince, and wanted to bring Katara back home himself. Hakoda was probably still in shock, and this was affecting his choices and reasoning.

This was too sudden. Sokka had never been so worried in his life.

As expected, Jet had been furious when he heard the news. As angry as he had been when Zuko had crowned Katara the Queen of Love and Beauty, this was a million times worse. He was literally shaking with rage, and the fury in his expression would intimidate even the strongest warriors.

"I'm going to kill Zuko." Jet told Sokka once Piandao had left the room. He didn't bother to address Zuko as 'prince'. "That's all I want—that's all I'm aiming for—to kill him."

"Jet…" Sokka didn't know what to say to him.

"How can you not agree with me?!" Jet shouted. "He took your sister! He's probably raping her right at this moment!"

Sokka was speechless for a moment. The thought of what could possibly be happening to Katara right now horrified him. Finally, he said, "I never said that I don't agree with you. We need to find her and get her back. And…I'm also trying to figure out the reason why he kidnapped her."

"There's only one reason why he would kidnap her." Jet said bitterly. "It's obvious, and I've already mentioned it."

"But he's the heir to the throne…why would he do something so awful, something that he knows will ruin his reputation and cause so many people to hate him?" Sokka shook his head, confused.

"He thought he could get away with it without being seen! If Sangok hadn't witnessed it, no one would know that he took what was mine." Jet growled. "He's completely selfish! You know he is! Disrespecting us at the tournament was only the beginning. Now look what he's done."

Jet's anger was almost contagious. For a moment, Sokka too felt an intense hatred towards the prince. He quickly tried to calm himself down, and think clearly.

"We should've been there to protect her. But…it's unlikely we would've won against firebenders such as Prince Zuko and his men." Sokka said, frustrated and feeling helpless. Suddenly he remembered his and Katara's past conversation about Zuko. She had defended him, saying that he would never hurt her. Had Katara been proven wrong? Sokka didn't know what to think.

"They should be wiped out—every single one of those Fire Nation scum who support their greedy, self-centered, pathetic excuse of a prince." Jet said darkly.

"…Don't blame the people for something their prince has done."

"But even after they hear about what he did, they'll find some way to defend him." Jet insisted. "They think he's perfect and deserves to get whatever he wants. They're blind to the monster he is."

Jet's probably right, Sokka thought, though he didn't want to admit it out loud.

"Just wait. I'll slaughter them all." Jet seemed to be talking more to himself than to Sokka now.

His voice, filled with hatred and coldness, sent chills down Sokka's spine.

Looking around at the mountains surrounding Taku, Katara felt safely hidden from the rest of the world. It was a good decision to come here, Katara thought.

They had chosen a tower in the abandoned city to stay in. It was good for keeping watch—they would be able to clearly see any incoming visitors. It was large enough for their group to comfortable live in. Their group consisted of Zuko, Katara, Mako, a waterbender named Kuruk, and two of Zuko's most trusted men, who, along with Mako, were his personal bodyguards. The other men and waterbenders had gone to the Fire Nation.

At first, Kuruk had been a bit reluctant to train Katara in waterbending. It was breaking tradition, and Katara understood his concern. But when Zuko offered him a large sum of money, his attitude changed.

Kuruk was impressed by Katara's skill, determination, and attentiveness. He quickly became very fond of her, and would joke around with her. Katara enjoyed learning from him. It was thrilling to learn new moves and techniques, and Katara caught on quickly.

Katara wondered how her father and the tribe were handling her disappearance. They were probably curious about the disappearance of multiple waterbenders as well, unless Zuko and his uncle Iroh had already handled that issue (Zuko had told her that Iroh had connections with people from the tribe and would make sure that the issue of the 'missing waterbenders' would be smoothly taken care of, while keeping Zuko's involvement a secret).

Katara hated to make her father worry, so she planned to send him a message soon saying that she was all right. She wouldn't go into detail, though. Just a short letter that didn't give away her location or whom she was with would be enough.

"Looks like it's going to rain." Zuko commented as he approached Katara, glancing at the cloudy sky.

"I talked to the herbalist who lives here earlier, and she said that this is the normal weather here." Katara shrugged. "I like it, though."

They walked around for a little while. "I hope Sokka is doing well." Katara spoke. "He's training with Master Piandao at the Eastern Air Temple." Then she added, "By the way, he knows about…us. He doesn't know that I'm here with you right now, but he knows that we've met in secret. He knows that you know that I'm the Painted Warrior."

"Do you think he's told anyone?" Zuko asked, concerned.

Katara shook her head. "No, he wouldn't. He'll keep our secret. He's an honorable person. And we're very close…he's my best friend."

"It must be nice to be close to your sibling like that." Zuko said thoughtfully.

"You and Princess Azula aren't close?"

"We were closer as children. She's very competitive, cunning, and clever…sometimes I felt that it was a pity that she hadn't been born first and become the heir to the throne. She can be very persuasive, and is a natural leader." Zuko let out a chuckle. "I actually don't remember her ever following anyone…she always took charge and did whatever she wanted."

"She's the princess…there's very few people who could tell her what to do." Katara reasoned. She paused and then went on. "Everyone has their own strengths. Although Princess Azula seems to have a lot of traits of a leader…there is more to leadership than power and charisma. A good leader should have empathy, wisdom, kindness, and honor."

At that moment, Kuruk interrupted them. "Lady Katara! Are you ready for waterbending training?" He jogged over to where the Zuko and Katara were standing, bowing once to Zuko once he reached them.

Zuko watched as Kuruk taught Katara an advanced waterbending technique. Katara's movements were graceful yet strong, and Zuko found himself mesmerized as he watched her.

"You're improving very quickly," Kuruk commented. "Some of the waterbenders back home have trained all their lives, but I'd say you're already as good as them. You could probably beat Sangok in a fight in five seconds flat."

Katara laughed. "Don't pick on Sangok! He's still very young, and has a lot of potential to become one of our tribe's highly respected warriors." She turned to Zuko. "Sangok was at the tournament at Ba Sing Se with us. You might have seen him."

Was he the commoner who sat with them in the stands? Zuko suddenly remembered how Katara, disguised as the Painted Warrior, had stood up for commoners in front of the crowd full of nobles. "What is your relationship with Sangok?" Zuko blurted out.

Katara looked slightly startled from his sudden question. "He's a friend. I saved him from getting beat up by some earthbenders at the tournament. That was actually our first interaction."

Zuko didn't say anything. It seemed like he was waiting for her to clarify something.

"He's like a little brother to me." Katara awkwardly added, not exactly sure why she was stating this fact.

"It was kind of you to help him," Zuko said. His posture was suddenly relaxed.

Kuruk watched them, amused. He felt as if he was witnessing something that had never happened before in history—a Fire Nation prince falling for a princess from the Water Tribe, and perhaps vice versa. It was against the rules, but that made it even more interesting.

Kuruk cleared his throat. "I think we've trained enough for today. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Lady Katara and Prince Zuko." With a bow, he made his departure, leaving Zuko and Katara alone again.

Katara turned to Zuko. "I…I would like to send a message to my father. Just to let him and the others at home know that I'm okay. I won't mention you or anything else."

Zuko nodded. "You can use my messenger hawk."

"Thanks." Katara was grateful for his support. She thought about how different her and Zuko's relationships with their fathers were. She was lucky to have a father who was caring and honorable. Those were traits that she valued more than position and power.