A/N: Oh boy! You guys are going to love this chapter! :)

Responses:

sylah808: Agreed. Remember to remember it haha. TheLastDigidestined: Thanks for noticing that! I was wondering if that correlation wasn't subtle enough. VengefulGeyzer: I'll just say it has something to do with Ruby ;) Anonymous: Update is here! EternalFire1984: She's caring, but not smart about it sometimes, but that's why we love her character.

waking-up-with-happiness: Yes, she's in for a rough ride with Memnar. He's not very nice… shadowcatt1990: Now we're only one chapter away after this one! Memnar was just hovering above Ruby talking to longer in this version than the old. Hardly noticeable. Rivierra: Suspense is the genre, aaand it's only going to get worse ;) Ana: Haha they won't be splitting anytime soon! nevertalk: Glad you agree haha.

25Carin: No prob. I thank you for whatever review you do post! I actually don't read Zutara fics anymore…I try not to read for the fandom I write for. I did that one time in a different fandom and it killed my muse because I liked another story better than the one I was writing. Though, I have noticed the amount of Zutara fics drop off. :( Totally Spazz-tastic: It's okay to be scared. Katara should be scared too, but, ya know. It only gets worse for Zuko. Glad you like the suspense!

starry-eyed: Yes indeed! ;) : Haha he's lovable in his own strange way, and he really hated Katzu. Thanks for the review!

All Guests: Thank you guys!

Disclaimer: No own, no sue.

Chapter 21

The Only One

…

Memnar came to a halt just before a corner that led into a large street. He was panting, dizzy and his body was growing heavier by the second. Zuko guessed it was a mixture of exhaustion and blood loss from the wound on his chest.

Stubbornly, the spirit refused to show any sign that he was tired and peered over his shoulder at Katara, who looked up at him with an unreadable expression. They'd been walking for nearly two hours through the massive city, dodging soldiers and everything that looked even remotely suspicious to Memnar. The sun would come up in an hour or two, but he had no intention of stopping until they were through the city gates.

Katara also looked winded and wordlessly leaned against the wall, her wrist still securely tightened in his grip. She stopped talking and struggling a long time ago, and so did Zuko.

His yelling stopped when he realized Memnar was taking the frustration caused by him out on Katara. It stopped the moment he saw small red marks forming on her neck that were going to turn into bruises very soon. The night was dark, but a brief walk past a street lamp showed enough to let him know that his hands were the ones responsible for causing those marks.

He stopped because the images of what he'd done already were going to haunt him for the rest of his life.

However, he was more frustrated with Katara than the spirit right now. Even if Memnar was unpredictable with Zuko's firebending, Katara, a waterbending master, was easily a match for him. At the least, she had more than enough power to stop him and get away.

She never even tried. The worst part, and the reason he was upset with her, was that she was willingly letting Memnar drag her around like some doll. Katara was a fiery woman and would stand up to the most dangerous people there were without blinking an eye, and she was ready to get into a verbal brawl with Memnar until he used a threat that shattered her resolve.

It was stupid. It was so stupid, and he wished he could tell her that.

Memnar stumbled when Katara used the full force of her weight to throw him off. With a yell of frustration, she tried to pull her wrist from his hand for the thousandth time. He turned to glare at her. The constant, unyielding struggling was slowing them down.

"I told you to be quiet," Memnar hissed.

"Let go! You're hurting me."

"I'm not letting go until we are well away from any guards, and you're going to keep quiet until then."

"I am not-"

Memnar dug his thumb into her wrist and she shrieked at the pain. "Don't try it, and enough struggling. I'm tired of dragging you around. If you don't stop, I'm going to snap your wrist."

Despite his threat, her angry look only grew more defiant.

Memnar was losing his patience again. He couldn't let her go, not while she claimed she could find him on a whim. She would run to the closest patrol and bring them straight to him. He was not going to risk setting her free just to move faster, but dragging this stubborn woman through the streets was truly testing his ability to remain calm.

However, as he matched her frown with his own, a thought occurred to him about that strange ability Ruby decided to share with her. Always feeling the need to get closer to her eyes when he spoke, he leaned in.

With his face so close, her glare faltered. "What are you doing?" she asked in an attempt to get away from the discomfort he was causing.

"That ability you have to sense me – I wager I could take it away from you. I doubt it would be hard. Perhaps painful for you."

Katara blinked up at him and her struggle paused for a tense moment.

"I'll take it from you, then leave. I'll knock you against the wall, and when you wake, I will be long gone. You'll be free to run screaming to those pests. That is, if you even wake up after I'm done ripping it from you."

"You wouldn't. You'd risk hurting Ruby-"

"I would," he affirmed.

Memnar didn't know if he could actually take it from her, but he was more than willing to try; anything to stop this infuriating fight from her. He was at his wits end, and if this threat of pain didn't work, he didn't know what he was going to do.

Katara stiffened as conflict raged in her eyes.

"I don't believe you," she said.

"Would you like to try me? Just say the word," he threatened in a low voice.

She let out a stiff breath and swallowed as silence stretched between them. The air seemed to grow stiller as she made her decision. Slowly, her hand dropped from his grip on her wrist in surrender. When he turned and kept walking, the fight in her was gone. Her protests ended and she struggled no more.

And just like that, he had her.

Zuko knew exactly what she was thinking in those seconds it took her to give up. He could read every thought on her face so well it made him sick. He was injured, he was alone, and under Memnar's mercy. Katara was not going to leave him - it would go against everything in her nature to walk away from him like this. That foolish woman. Zuko could handle Memnar more or less on his own, but with her here that changed everything.

Katara had no idea what kind of position she just put him in. His goal was to get Memar out of the city and away from people. Alone.

It was a risk for Zuko, but one he was willing to take. So be it if he ran into more trouble, just as long as Memnar didn't kill or hurt anyone else. What was he supposed to do? The spirit held in his grip one of the people he absolutely did not want near him like this.

Right now, Zuko rode entirely on the hope that Memnar would make good on his threat to her earlier and let her go once they were far away enough. However, that seemed highly unlikely at this point.

He already broke his word once before. Maybe there really was a reason the stories called him The Liar.

A stabbing pain shot through his chest and Memnar bit his lip. He looked down again at the long knife wound draining his energy, then back to the dark street. The distance to the next corner he intended to round seemed a lot further than it really was and far more daunting to get to. Zuko could feel a debate raging in the spirit's mind. Eventually, one side won, and he moved his gaze to the buildings nearby, inspecting each one.

He stepped out into the street, pulling Katara along with him. When he walked up to a door and pried at the handle, Katara finally broke the silence between them. "What are you doing?"

"Quiet."

When it would not budge, Memnar stepped back and, without warning, slammed the side of his body into the door. It burst open with a bang, and Katara rammed into his back as the two of them stumbled into the dark room. "Why did you do that?!"

He didn't answer and pulled her towards stairs on the far side of the room, then began climbing them. There were puddles everywhere and the air stunk of rotten wood.

Once up top, he dragged Katara through the mess on the ground till they approached another door. When he opened it, he found someone standing at the far side of the room, looking at him in fear. He was dirty and he appeared to be dressed in rags. A homeless man, no doubt.

Memnar glared at him stepped to the side, pulling Katara with him. "Get out," he ordered.

The man only hesitated for a moment as he looked at his and Katara's glowing eyes before quickly running out of the room. The spirit stayed put until the sound of the stranger's footsteps disappeared as he left the building.

"What-"

Katara didn't finish as Memnar hauled her to the side and threw her into the room. She stumbled a few steps forward then looked back at him, rubbing her now free wrist. He stepped in and shut the door behind him, then put his back against it and slid to the ground.

"Why are we here?" Katara and Zuko asked in unison.

"I'm tired," said Memnar as he sighed and leaned against the wood.

Katara looked around the dirty, cluttered room. "You want to rest here?"

"Do you have a problem with it?"

"Yes, I do."

"Deal with it. We're not leaving until morning."

"It is morning," she mumbled. "Where are you planning to go?"

"Stop asking that question. I already told you I don't know."

Katara looked towards the only window in the room. He didn't need to know her well at all to know she was juggling ideas of escape.

"Don't try it," he growled. Though, he was confident every scenario she came up with was of her losing. A sigh of frustration from her confirmed it. She began pacing the room with Memnar watching her the whole time. However, after only a few steps, she stilled and reached up to grab her head. Appearing to grow dizzy, she eventually moved to the wall opposite of him and sat next to it.

'Let her leave,' said Zuko.

"Constantly saying that isn't going to change my mind, fool."

He was slightly tempted to, though. She was a nuisance Memnar didn't want to deal with and if he wasn't already grumpy enough, her presence here was souring his mood even more. All he had to do was manage to stay awake long enough for Ruby to wake up. So long as it wasn't Katara in control, he wouldn't have to worry. He could sleep a little, then leave this place, never to return.

All of them sat in silence for some time, just barely able to see each other in the grey-blue light. The sounds of the storm growing more intense outside were all they could hear. Memnar fought with the exhaustion tugging at him while Katara constantly looked from him to the door he was keeping closed with his back.

With all the staring she was doing, and far from being in the mood for it, he was about to snap at her to tell her to stop, but a creak of the floorboards sounded and distracted him. It came from one of the dark corners of the room and pulled both their attention.

It was just the building settling in the humid air, but it suddenly reminded Zuko of that shadow they came across earlier. He hadn't felt it since they left all that chaos and he couldn't believe he forgot about it in the first place.

"Afraid of the dark?" Memnar asked when he felt Zuko's nervousness.

'No,' he said. 'That shadow earlier, what was it?'

"What are you talking about?"

'That thing back at the warehouse. It was behind us when we were brought in.'

Still confused, Zuko offered up a memory to show him instead. The spirit loosely inspected it, but didn't understand what he was seeing. His reaction clearly showed he didn't know what it was either.

'Was it another spirit?'

"Perhaps it's your imagination," he huffed with a sarcastic edge. "Cowardice causes humans to hallucinate, or so I'm told."

Taking direct jabs at his pride was the quickest way to set Zuko off. Just like Memnar, Zuko was not in a state to take it. 'I wasn't imagining that,' he said through mentally gritted teeth. 'You can see it as well as I can.'

"I see nothing but the musings of a fool," Memnar bit. Uncaring of hiding his thoughts, Zuko could tell what was going on here. Memnar didn't care about that shadow in the least bit. He was in a foul mood and asserting dominance over Zuko seemed to make him feel better.

If he was smart, he'd end this conversation and step away. If he was smart, he wouldn't give the spirit the argument he wanted. Clearly, that wasn't going to happen.

'Why did you blame me for what happened?'

Memnar eyed him in response to his aggressive tone.

'You said that everything was my fault when we were tied up in the warehouse. Why did you say that?'

"I said no such thing."

'Fine, you didn't say the words, but you made it very clear. For me being 'a fool', you sure seem to think I have a lot of power over what happens to you.'

"Enough talk," Memnar snapped, suddenly not liking where this was going.

Unwilling to accept another diversion, Zuko pressed, 'You were trying to kill me!'

"Tch, kill you? Perhaps that's what I was doing. Perhaps that's what would have happened if it weren't for that blasted wall of yours." Memnar moved closer to the border of their minds in a threatening manner. Zuko tensed, but he did not cower back an inch.

'It was a little extreme to blame me for a mess you walked us into.'

"Insolence…" Memnar thought as he audibly sighed, disgruntled. His tone darkened. "I am going to kill you before I leave this world."

'No, you won't,' Zuko said defiantly.

Memnar hesitated. "Hm, maybe not. That would be too generous, wouldn't it? I think I'll do something else to you. When I get through, when you don't expect it, when you're not fast enough to keep me out, you'll realize there are worse things than death."

Zuko hesitated and steeled himself in his resolve to never let that happen. Outward, the odds were all to none in his favor. But Inward, Zuko had strong reason to believe the playing field was even. Though Zuko didn't have the strength to fight back for too long, he suspected Memnar didn't have the energy to continue an onslaught. If he did, he wouldn't be making these idle threats. He'd have done Zuko over in the beginning.

"You put too much faith in things you know nothing about," he said in response to Zuko's conclusion.

'I think I know more than you want me to.' Memnar's spike of anger he could not hide let Zuko know that was very much the truth.

"I am going to enjoy shattering that arrogance."

Memnar hated him, and he let him know it. The knowledge did nothing to Zuko, who felt the same towards him. This spirit disgusted him and it wasn't just the fact that he was its prisoner, or that it used Zuko's body to do things he would never have otherwise. No, it was Memnar's very nature he couldn't stand.

He was so full of anger and rage. That's all he was. It was the most self-destructive thing a person could be, Zuko would know, but Memnar seemed to embrace every aspect of it. He was a miserable, hateful being.

"Such hypocritical words coming from you."

Zuko wished he could roll his eyes in response. He must be blind or truly ignorant. There was very little the two of them shared in common. Zuko had never met someone as vile as Memnar, who had nothing in his being but animosity.

'There's nothing you don't hate, is there?'

Memnar stared at him for a moment, then left him alone in that chamber of his mind. Zuko didn't like the fact that he was walking away and easily followed him. He was the one who wanted a fight, and now he was leaving. Zuko was about to taunt him even further but halted when the spirit looked to Katara and answered him.

"Nothing."

Zuko had forgotten about Ruby until then and was a little shocked to hear him say that.

Katara was staring at him when he turned to look at her. When their eyes met, she glared before quickly looking away and fidgeting. Now Memnar was staring, and Zuko could tell Katara knew it. Like all the other times, the spirit was trying to see past her to Ruby.

Both their attention for a fight teetered off as Memnar sifted through what little memories he had of the spirit world, trying to compare a ghostly image of Ruby to Katara. His thoughts grew curious when noticed something about her. There was something between them, some strange air that the spirit vaguely recognized. Like when she touched him, though unpleasant, that was familiar too.

It was a foreign feeling, but distinctly Ruby.

Katara reached up and adjusted her thin parka, and Memnar's attention moved to her hands. When they trembled ever so slightly, she pulled them down. However, his eyes didn't follow. Without him really choosing to, they stayed on her chest. They were only there for a few seconds before his heart rate picked up a few beats; a startling reaction that caught the spirit off guard.

With her outfit sticking to her like glue, the curvature of her breasts was obvious. Memnar was further distracted when a drop of water slowly ran down her neck and into her shirt.

'Stop,' Zuko said, uncomfortable.

Memnar's attention snapped back and Zuko could swear he felt a twinge of embarrassment for the attention slip. The spirit looked away and scowled.

Memnar let his eyes wander like this when he was with Ruby last night; puzzled as he watched her every move. In a situation like that, both of them alone together, he could have easily done something to her. All he had to do was reach out, and he would have been met with little resistance, but he didn't. The spirit told him he wasn't interested, but his reactions right now were saying something different.

"Your reactions," Memnar corrected, listening to Zuko's thoughts.

'You're the one who's staring at her.'

Katara got to her feet and started pacing again. She eventually slowed and reached up to bend the water from her clothes, but nothing happened as she waved her hand. To Zuko's immediate surprise, she looked upset, but not as shocked as he expected her to be. Was this why she didn't fight back when Memnar dragged her here?

'She can't waterbend?' thought Zuko. Though, he shouldn't be surprised at this point. This fit right in line with all the other things that happened lately.

Not trying for a second time, Katara instead pulled her drenched coat off and hung it over a dusty chair. Completely soaked as well was that familiar thinner robe Zuko had seen so much of lately. She slipped off her long moccasins and tried to shake the water from them, leaving her legs bare.

Zuko couldn't stand that outfit she was wearing. It had become his own personally magnet lately.

It was only supposed to be his, so it was alarming to find his body reacting as if it had a mind of its own. Just one small glance at her and Memnar's attention slipped again. He watched her critically at first, scrutinizing her movements, but his eyes dropped when her arms moved and her skin caught the moonlight. They became hazily fixed as her hips swayed ever so slightly.

Suddenly very curious about her dark skin, his gaze slowly ran from her heel up to her thigh before clothing blocked his view. He thought about looking away, thinking that this was pointless, but those thoughts dissolved when he looked back up to her chest.

He wondered, for a moment, what she would look like if that blue clothing weren't covering her – to see if that bronze colored the rest of her.

'Enough already,' Zuko strained.

Blinking quickly, the spirit looked away and leaned his head against the door, banging it harder than he intended. Memnar didn't like what was going on with his body. It was fragile, weak – utterly pathetic in his opinion- and confusing with all the reactions it had at the strangest of times.

He especially hated the fact that it could distract his mind so easily. His steeled attention was rarely broken, and to have it tossed aside like dust in the wind in this body was irritating.

Ruby, Katara – whichever - seemed to cause it the most. When he pulled her close last night, pressed against him, it was difficult to focus on anything other than her smaller body, but sleep offered him relief. He wasn't close to dozing off right now, though.

As Memnar contemplated something that should have been blatantly obvious, Zuko stayed quiet and offered no insight into the situation. The fact that the spirit was toying with the idea in the first place made Zuko nervous.

Suddenly, a foreboding air settled around them, and Zuko felt like he could hardly breathe. As an extreme nervousness filled his chest, his mood grew more strained by the second. With both of them sharing the same body, it was hard to be affected by the other. Memnar couldn't get away from the skittish wreck Zuko was slowly turning into.

"What is wrong with you? Why are you so high strung?" he grumbled as Zuko's mood interrupted his thoughts.

He didn't answer and tried to retreat far back enough that Memnar couldn't hear him. Last night, it was difficult to watch Memnar touch Katara so easily no matter how hard Zuko resisted. Things could have turned very bad very quickly had he been even slightly more curious.

The same kind of curious he was right now.

It may be Katara instead of Ruby standing in front of them, but he had a feeling that didn't matter. The way he watched her, the way he let his mind slip – this was different than before.

He hoped Memnar would close his eyes and fall asleep soon, so that it would give Katara the chance to run as far away from him as she could. Most of all, he hoped Memnar's curiosity would remain fleeting and not turn into something else. Zuko did not know what to do if it did.

Agni forbid if he – if he raped her. For him to be utterly helpless as he watched some stranger use his own body to do something like that was absolutely terrifying to Zuko. That would be a scar he'd never be able to heal from; something he'd never be able to live with. Especially if it was Katara-

She should not have come after him. Her bending was gone for reasons unknown, and she was completely at Memnar's mercy right now. This was terrible.

Annoyed that Zuko was hiding from him, Memnar turned back to Katara, briefly glancing at her hips. "How long has Ruby been asleep?"

"Asleep?" she asked, "A few hours now. Do you know why she is?"

"No."

She hesitated, then frowned. "My wrist is going to bruise because of you."

He matched the look on her face wordlessly. When he offered no response, they continued to stare each other down. If she was expecting an apology, she'd be waiting an eternity for one. "Does Zuko know what's going on? Can he hear me right now?"

He considered ignoring her, but out of a slight twinge of curiosity, he nodded.

"Zuko," she said his name lightly. "I'm sorry I slapped you."

It was the first time he was directly acknowledged since the start of this. Zuko would have enjoyed the feeling if not for the current state he was in.

"He's not the one you slapped."

She gave Memnar a dirty look again. "I'm not going to apologize to you. You were yelling at me."

"Hmph. You're lucky you're Ruby's host."

"Or what? You would have hurt me more? That didn't stop you when I first walked up to you."

He folded his arms and closed his eyes, not feeling the need to explain himself. She was lucky to be alive and speaking right now after sneaking up on him when he was ready to kill someone. Ruby was the only reason she was still breathing.

"How deep is that cut?" she asked.

"Why are you so obsessed with this injury?"

"Because you're not the only one who's in pain. I wasn't lying when I told you earlier; if it's not taken care of, it could get infected."

Memnar huffed, disinterested and uncaring. When she took a step towards him, he tensed up.

"Get any closer and I'll bruise your other wrist," he threatened, eyeing her approaching hand that would bring a pain of its own if it touched his skin.

She didn't stop, not seeming to care what he had to say. When she knelt next to him, Memnar was ready to do exactly what he said he would, but her proximity threw him. Her chest was eye level with him and he found it difficult to look away. Slight warmth from her body heat filled the cold air that was next to him and the very essence of it made him tense more.

Nothing to this degree happened when he was last with Ruby. Sure, these strange reactions were all the same, but managing it was far more difficult than it should be. What was going on?

Cautiously, and trying to hide her unease with being so close to him, Katara reached out for his tunic. She halted right above the wound and stared into his glowing eyes. He made no move to stop her and looked at her blankly. She reached back down, pinched a ripped end, and pulled. Memnar winced.

She examined the length of his wound and grew more nervous with each inch she covered. "This is bad. You need a healing session with a waterbender."

He looked to the side in contemplation. "This pest seems to think you can do it yourself."

"His name is Zuko," she snapped.

"All the same."

"I can't right now," she said, quietly. "I lost my bending."

She knew it had something to do with Ruby, but what she saw from Memnar earlier made her nervous. He had no problem with firebending. At the memory of the flames, Katara looked across his chest at the singed spots. There were a few open ends, but she couldn't find any burns on his skin.

"How were you able to bend blue flames?" she asked. "I've never seen Zuko do that before."

"There's a lot neither of you have seen or understand."

He lifted his fist a few inches into the air, opened it palm up, then gripped it hard. He and Ruby seemed to be fond of secrets, and her own spirit used that tone of voice just before falling silent.

"You don't get along with Zuko, do you?"

"And how would you possibly know that?"

"Because I don't like you."

Memnar scoffed, "If only I had enough reason to care."

She opened her mouth to say something further, but her finger accidentally brushed across his skin. Memnar stiffened and his breath hitched. Thinking it was because of her, she pulled her hand back. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," he said quickly.

A bead of sweat ran down the side of his face and it was then Katara realized how ghostly pale it was. She reached up and put the back of her hand on his forehead. He was burning up, and it was definitely not okay. An infection should not be setting in that quickly.

Memnar tensed again and his lips pressed into a thin line. His breath picked up for a few seconds, but then it slowly evened out; forcibly, it sounded like. Golden-red eyes looked into hers before traveling down to her collarbone. When he wouldn't look away, she leaned away uncomfortably.

"We need to get you to a waterbender at the palace."

He shook his head and pushed her hand off his forehead. "No."

"But-"

"Stop. Talking."

Katara frowned at him in response but stayed quiet. Instead of backing off, she continued to fuss over his wound, making it difficult for him to look away from her face. His eyes landed on the base of her neck again. He swallowed and avoided looking at her chest.

However, something caught his attention below her chest. Alarmed at what he was seeing, Zuko was too caught off guard to try and resist what Memnar did next. He reached his hand out and pressed the back of his fingers into her abdomen. Katara's jumped and quickly leaned even further away from him in surprise.

"What are you-"

Her words cut off as both of them looked at the blood staining his fingers. Katara widened her eyes and looked down to discover a large stain of blood on her robe. She jumped to her feet and touched it. After looking at the blood for a tense second, she started pressing everywhere near the stain looking for a wound. She never winced, though.

"Whose blood is that?" asked Memnar.

She was completely confused until a look of realization crossed her face.

"Not mine," her words stumbled.

'What? Then whose is it?' Zuko thought.

Katara stood deathly still for longer than she should have, staring at the blood on her. It looked like she wasn't breathing at first, but then her chest began to rise and fall a little too quickly.

"Hey," said Memnar, trying to get her attention.

She either didn't listen or didn't hear him and reached up to rub the spot just above her heart as if she were checking to make sure it was still beating. Suddenly, with a frantic look in her eye, she grabbed at her robe and attempted to ring out the darker color. It didn't help much, and when she realized that, she looked around the room. She spotted a bowl and went to pick it up in a near frenzy.

Just watching her was making Memnar agitated, and he stood up slowly. Katara was clearly unnerved and it was affecting Memnar in a way he didn't expect. Her panic was unsettling, and he didn't like it.

As the spirit considered the blood on his fingers, some dark emotion began to stir within him that Zuko didn't understand. He narrowed his eyes at Katara. When she snatched the bowl and darted for the window, Memnar was next to her in a flash.

With shaky hands, she grabbed the latch, but he reached over her and slammed his hand into it. Katara whipped around to face him, dropping the bowl. That same, unfamiliar look she had when she first found him was back. She was scared and looked like she saw something truly terrifying; the blood on her probably had something to do with it.

She was trembling, she was breathing hard, and suddenly terror-stricken. Though Zuko never experienced one to this degree before, he knew a panic attack when he saw one. His chest filling with worry, he turned to Memnar, who didn't seem to care that his intimidating was only making things worse.

'Memnar, back off and give her some space. She's having an anxiety attack.'

"Why?" he asked, perturbed.

'I don't know!'

"I'm just getting some water," she said quickly.

Ignoring her, his frown deepened. "You're hiding something."

"Move your hand-"

"Ruby would never just hand over control, not without a reason," he said as he glanced at the blood stain.

'You want to know this now?! Just leave her alone!'

Katara ducked under his arm and stepped further into the room, grabbing her head. She didn't know what was going on. The walls felt like they were closing in on her and she could hardly calm down enough to ask why.

She had blood on her - from that man that died right in front of her. This wasn't the first time she saw this color, and it wouldn't be the last, so why was this happening to her? Why couldn't she calm her racing heart and out of control breathing for one second to look at this rationally?

The gaping hole in her chest that appeared when Ruby disappeared felt like it was spreading, eating away at the rest of her body. As if she wasn't frightened enough, that feeling threw Katara into even more of a panic. She had to get out of here. She had to get away from this!

She quickly headed for the door, but not two steps later, she lost her footing. Katara fell to the floorboards as invisible hands dragged her down and sapped her energy. Dizzy, she was barely aware of Memnar stepping in front of her and kneeling to her level.

A hand roughly grabbed the tip of her chin and forced her to look up. "Calm down," he said, sternly.

To her complete surprise, she did. A lot. Katara blinked at him as the fear dissipated as if it was being taken from her by him. Clarity that never should have left her in the first place came back. However, fear returned the very moment Memnar pulled his hand back and his touch left her skin. Feeling panic swell in her again, her hand darted to his and grabbed it tightly.

Memnar tried to jerk back, but Katara refused to let him go. The fear left, and Katara stared at their clasp dumbfounded.

"What's happening?" she whispered.

Memnar looked from her hand to her eyes. "Ruby is waking up."

No, not yet. She dreaded the feeling of having everything taken away from her again, to be shoved back into her mind. She wanted to know what happened to Ruby, but she certainly did not want her back. They were out here lost, alone and without protection. It couldn't be now!

Memnar tried to pull his hand from hers. Her eyes widened at the feeling and she gripped it harder.

"No, don't," she pleaded.

He frowned uncomfortably and his jaw tightened, but he didn't pull back. The room started to spin and she leaned forward unintentionally. Memnar grabbed her shoulder and slowly pushed her the other direction until she was lying down on her back.

She immediately resisted and tried to sit up.

"You're going to fall over if you try that," he said. "Lie down before you hurt yourself."

His words lacked warmth and it made her wonder why he cared in the first place. She did as he said, but it wasn't because he ordered her to, it was because she barely had the strength to move. Her vision was slowly clouding over and Katara reached up weakly to press a hand just above her eye.

"I want an answer," said Memnar as he stared down at her.

"What?" she asked nearly breathless.

"The secret you're keeping."

Katara sighed lightly. "I don't have one."

"I know something happened. Tell me why you have blood on your clothes."

She swallowed hard. "Someone died. Right in front of us."

"That's why she left?"

"Maybe. I don't know."

He opened his mouth to say something, but looked down to their gripped hands and halted. The uncomfortable look on his face faded momentarily and changed to confusion as his eyes slowly ran from their clasped hands to her collarbone again. "Strange…" he muttered.

He brought his hand up, reaching for her neck. She tensed. "What are you doing?"

Her small fight couldn't ward him off and warm fingertips pressed against her skin. Afraid, she expected him to wrap his hand around her the way he did when she found him, but there was no aggression in his touch. His hand ghosted down to the hollow of her neck, and Katara could only stare at Zuko's scar.

"What do you feel?" he asked.

"Nervous," she said as she tried to move his hand. "Stop."

"You don't feel pain when I touch you?"

"No."

Memnar finally leaned back. He stopped staring at her and lifted the hand he just had on her to inspect it.

For a few minutes, the fatigue worsened until she was feeling extreme vertigo. She closed her eyes and knew she was about to pass out. At this point, she was ready to let it happen. She would have let go if Memnar didn't suddenly shift next to her, and body heat fell onto her from above.

She opened her eyes and her breath froze when she saw what he was doing. He leaned close to her until his loose hair brushed against the crook of her neck. Momentarily stunned, Katara couldn't move. There was a tension-filled hesitation from him before his lips lightly pressed against her skin.

Katara's heart started beating wildly as her eyes widened at the sensation.

He very slowly moved down to the base of her neck, brushing his lips against her. Though shocked at what he was doing, the sensation made her gasp and shudder slightly, igniting her face in a furious blush. Memnar hesitated just above her collarbone and Katara felt hot breath as he sighed.

Katara reached up and gripped his tunic to push him away, but her arms were so weak that it could have easily seemed like she were trying to pull him closer.

"Ngh! Zuko!" she said weakly to make him stop. But it wasn't Zuko, she knew that. She knew it wasn't him doing this!

Memnar pulled away from her, but not far enough. He looked her over, his eyes completely glazed as an emotion Katara had never seen in them burned. It was raw desire. Not seeming to notice the shock in her own, he leaned back in and pressed his lips against her neck again, this time, slowly moving upward.

He moved his free hand over her and placed it at her side, pressing his body weight into her the further up he went. The room was spinning wildly, and her labored breathing only worsened it. When his black hair caressed her cheek as his lips moved to her jaw, she tried to turn away from him. However, she hesitated when his glowing eyes squinted open to look at her.

Then, his lips met hers.

For a moment, only a small moment, Katara's thoughts emptied completely. Something close to a shock shot through her. She didn't have the will to move as something she imagined in her daydreams, something Zuko almost did her, happened right before her eyes.

His lips were soft…so much softer than she imagined, and though it was a violent spirit doing it, he was slow and careful. He pressed his weight even more onto her until the heat mixed and the sensation was like a hypnotic drug.

The amount of guilt she felt for enjoying this when she should be disgusted crushed her.

Whatever small amount of energy she had disappeared. Her eyes closed even more, and then it was over. Katara was pulled back into the darkness, feeling everything her body was doing, and yet controlling none of it.

Zuko's warm lips stopped and he pulled back slightly. Katara's once heavy eyes fluttered open half-lidded. Heat and clouded desire still ran through her and neither Katara or the spirit could manage a word as they stared up at Memnar – at Zuko…

"Ruby," he acknowledged in a whisper.

She didn't say anything, she couldn't say anything right now, but it wouldn't have mattered. Memnar leaned in again and swept her up in another slow kiss.

A/N: I drew the scene above and it's hanging out over at DeviantArt. Check it out if you're interested. So, this is actually the first kiss scene I've fully written and published. I know the original post date was, like, six months ago, but was it okay?

It's so bittersweet. He's taken Zuko's first kiss with Katara away from him. It doesn't end at the break of their lips, though. Memnar's greed is a nasty thing.