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Zuko was about to lose it.
His subordinates had quickly learned–the hard way–to stay a few yards away at all times, and never, ever suggest that 'maybe they should retire for the night.' That had only earned them singed clothing and an enraged Fire Lord.
Lieutenant Jin was the only one who seemed to be able to get close to him without Zuko exploding. He'd snap at him at first, just like he did to all the others with any attempt at speaking to him, but Jin would murmur a few soft words and Zuko would let out a sigh, then give him a terse nod.
They'd been searching for a full day with no signs of Katara's whereabouts and uneasy spirits. At the rate things were going, it didn't seem like Katara would show up any time soon. They'd contacted officials at Poughai Stronghold, and requested assistance and notification if she were to be found by any of their guards. A short letter was sent back from Admiral Zhao saying that they would do their best and notify His Highness immediately if anything was discovered concerning her whereabouts.
That hadn't eased Zuko's mind.
"Sweep this quadrant again! I don't want to take any chances."
"Sir, we've already swept it three times. Thoroughly. She isn't here. It'd be best if we moved on and covered more ground so-" Zen began, from atop his eel hound, his tone marked with boredom. Zen saw Zuko's jaw twitch, and quickly swallowed the rest of his sentence. He hastily pulled the reigns and moved out of Zuko's line of vision.
Smart boy, Zuko thought sadistically.
"And they say you have a quick temper," Lieutenant Jin mused as he rode up beside Zuko. The two had made their way to the rendevous point after discovering Katara's kidnapping, despite Zuko's objections, and met up with the others to regroup. "I have to say I'm deeply disappointed, sir. I thought we'd get more of a show."
"Not now, Jin," Zuko said, physically and emotionally exhausted. He can't remember the last time he pushed himself this hard.
"We'll find her," the Lieutenant said softly.
"I know."
"She's the only one who puts up with your crap. For the sake of deflating your ego, we have to find her."
And Lieutenant Jin could see the corner of the Fire Lord's mouth twitch, and he knew that Zuko hadn't lost hope just yet.
The sun had risen, and Zuko felt his energy rise as well. It had rained throughout the night and some parts of the early day, but now sunshine peeked through the tree tops and Zuko took a deep breath in, feeling the sun's rays energize him. He was going to need it if he wanted to continue searching for the second day in a row.
They'd been searching the third quadrant when one of the Task Force members called out abruptly.
"Sir! I think I see her!"
Zuko felt his heart drop to his feet. Katara.
He pulled the reigns and quickly joined the group where they seemed to be hovering by the edge of a slope, squinting down to the foot of it where a figure lay, seemingly unconscious against a large tree root.
It's her.
"Everyone. Get down there. Now!" Zuko could barely form the words, but he knew the rest of them didn't seem to mind because they were all dismounting their eel hounds to make their way down the slope.
Zuko dismounted his eel hound and stood at the edge of the slope, frozen for a moment. He didn't know why, but he couldn't move. Was she hurt? He couldn't tell from here, but after going missing for two days and reappearing in the middle of a forest, he knew she probably wasn't in the best shape.
"Katara! Are you alri-," Zuko heard Ryou begin and stop shortly after, freezing at the foot of the hill. Zuko squinted to get a better look. The rest of them did the same, standing frozen a few yards away from her. Why had he stopped so abruptly? Why wasn't she moving?
Zuko nearly tripped and tumbled on his way down the hill, but somehow landed on his feet at the bottom and walked up to the group and through to the front to see Katara.
And froze when he saw her figure up close.
She was covered in dirt, her bindings had been removed, and what covered her back were angry red lines running in every direction possible. He silently cursed every god he knew. She was bruised, all over: her arms, legs, and ribs, angry purple marks covering nearly every inch of skin that hadn't been whipped.
Zuko was infuriated. He wanted to set the entire forest ablaze, then himself for letting her go down to that damn river by herself! He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, and cry, and punch something, or someone.
But what broke him, what sent him down on a heart-shattering spiral into the ground, was her shaking frame.
"Katara?" he asked as he took a tentative step forward from the group, his voice breaking slightly. And as if his voice had set her over the edge, she began whimpering, her body spasming with violent sobs.
She's crying.
Zuko felt as though he couldn't move again and he heard no signs of movement behind him. The others were just as equally shocked. He forced himself to take a jerky step forward, brining a hand up to the button on his cloak to unfasten it and then, pulled it off his shoulders. He took a few more shaky steps forward, until he could finally see Katara's profile.
She was tightly hugging bound wrists to her bare chest, eyes squeezed shut as tears flowed freely. Her neck was covered with more red marks, and her arms were spotted with dark black splotches. He didn't know what to do, how to approach her. He felt like he did when his mother disappeared: angry, and scared, and useless.
"Katara," her name came out in a strangled voice as he dropped to his knees beside her figure, clutching the cloak tightly in his hands.
"I'm–fine," she choked out between little gasps. Zuko didn't know whether to cry with her, or yell at her. The damn peasant girl was still trying to act strong. He reached out–to do what, Zuko didn't know–but she stopped him as soon as he tried, choking out a few more words. "Please–don't touch–me. I'm dirty."
In that moment, Zuko was pretty sure he could hear his heart breaking.
He pulled a dagger out of its sheath and ever so gently, leaned over and began cutting the bindings around her wrist.
"Someone get a first aid kit, now. And some water, she's dehydrated," he said to no one in particular, but the scuffles behind him grew farther away and then came back less than a minute later. He'd gotten her wrists freed by then and had moved onto tenderly wiping tears off her cheeks.
"We're going to move you onto your stomach so we can bandage your back for the ride back to the ship."
She nodded barely in response. Zuko gently flipped her, apologizing over and over again as she whimpered in pain.
"Someone hold her shoulders," he said to the group. Ryou walked over and held her down, but not before placing one of her hands on his arms.
"Squeeze when the pain comes."
Zuko pulled out the bottle of antiseptic and hated himself for what he was about to do. She'd already been put through enough pain as it is. She didn't need-
"It's okay," Katara said in a more even voice, but still shakily. She stared straight ahead as she spoke, never meeting eyes with anyone. "I'll be fine."
Zuko began pouring the antiseptic over her wounds, but she didn't writhe as they expected her to. The wounds began to bubble though, and he knew she must be in tremendous pain even if she was acting strong, for more tears had begun to stream from her closed eyes. If it wasn't for her labored breathing and tears, Zuko would have assumed she was asleep. It amazed him that she'd taken the pain so strongly.
But it terrified him to think of what she had to endure to make this sort of pain seem tolerable.
After they'd spread a numbing salve on her back over the wounds and covered them with large bandages, the rest of the group wandered away, leaving Zuko alone with Katara. She started straight ahead, tears still falling silently, never meeting his gaze.
"Katara," Zuko called gently.
She flinched, but she still wouldn't look at him.
"Katara, please. Look at me," he said desperately, like the breath had been knocked out of him. "Please."
And she did.
But he immediately regretted it, because she broke down once again, heart-wrenching sobs shaking her form.
So Zuko did what he knew from times when his mother would comfort him as a child, and gently pulled Katara into his lap so her face was buried in his neck as he settled his back against the tree trunk. He kept his hands away from her back, and let her use his cloak to cover her bare front, her sobs muffled by his neck. Katara clutched his shirt with her hand, as if to hold him there, while Zuko rubbed a comforting hand up and down her arm.
"I'm–sorry," she hiccupped between sobs. "So–sorry."
It felt like something in Zuko's chest had squeezed, tightened and then shattered. She was apologizing. He brought his hand up to her cheek and gently wiped her tears away with his thumb as she repeated her apology over and over again.
Zuko, feeling like he was close to tears himself, rested his cheek against hers with his forehead on her shoulder. "It's not your fault."
She bawled even louder. Zuko began to see red.
Katara, fierce, headstrong Katara was broken. What the hell happened to her?
Zuko didn't want to ask her, though. Whatever had happened wasn't pretty, and he knew forcing her to tell him the details would get him nowhere. Being patient wasn't his specialty, especially in this situation. He squeezed his eyes shut to try and stop the images of Katara being tortured from flashing through his mind, but they wouldn't stop. He wanted to reduce each and every person responsible for Katara's condition to a pile of ashes.
A few minutes later, when her tears had stopped and she was sucking in little gasps of air instead, Lieutenant Dao and Lieutenant Jin approached them. Zuko looked up, his eyes hard with heavy emotion, and nodded at the two.
"We should start making our way back to the ship, Sir," Lieutenant Dao said, straight faced, betraying no emotion. Zuko knew Dao was feeling some degree of anger, though; he was looking everywhere except at Katara.
Zuko nodded and began shifting his weight and stood, pulling Katara up with him. His arm brushed against her back in the process, and the tiny whimper that escaped her lips make Zuko hate himself just as much as the person that had hurt her in the first place.
After they'd mounted their eel hounds, and had safely secured Katara on the back of Zuko's saddle with her arms secured around his waist and her body covered by the cloak, they began the trip back to the ship. As much as Zuko resented the situation they were in, he couldn't help but feel grateful for Katara's warmth against his back. She was alive and safe, and Zuko was going to keep it that way. She would be treated in his room, by his private medic, until she was healed completely.
Her grip slackened, and Zuko began to panic, grabbing hold of her wrist to keep her in place.
"She's asleep," Jin said softly from beside him, eyeing Zuko.
"Oh," was all Zuko said.
They rode next to each other in awkward silence.
"Those aren't normal whip lashes," Jin said quietly. Zuko felt his entire body stiffen. He knew they weren't normal lashes. The way the skin looked and smelt–he shuddered. Zuko was all too familiar with the smell of burnt flesh. And the marks on her neck resembled handprints, like they were burned onto her skin while someone was choking her. Zuko had to close his eyes and take a deep breath before speaking.
"I know."
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story thus far, you are all absolutely amazing and I love hearing from you! I wish I could thank you all personally, you're the reason I keep going! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, look forward to more!